Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie
by Midnight Zero
Summary: What would happen if Ayame was entered in the academy to help Naruto out? Chain reaction, new team involving a Valkyrie and a new sensei. NaruxAyame, OCxOC, Changed to M for language, violence, and suggestive situations just to be safe
1. Enter Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 1

It's really my first story here so I may seem like I have no idea what I'm doing. Well actually most of the stuff I do is original but I don't feel comfortable giving any of that away until I'm finished so I started writing FF's to get feedback on my writing style which, frankly I don't care if it gets copied. I may sound hypocritical when I say that I don't like crossovers especially when this is one, partly. I may borrow a character, Lenneth, Silmeria, or Hrist, or Lucien's abilities but I won't take villains or plot or anything like that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile. Kisimoto has Naruto while Square-Enix has Valkyrie Profile.

I will try to keep everyone in character except Ayame who really had no character to begin with. Just so you know, I'm not going to bash any characters. I call them like I see them.

...

An older vendor of foods and and even older man were sitting in the office of the Hokage, leader of Konahagure, arguably the strongest militaristic power known in the Elemental Countries. The vendor wore a typical chefs outfit and was not pleased at all with the current situation. The leader had on formal robes and a hat with the word fire, written in kanji. He too was displeased with the situation, but he had no idea what to do about the situation.

"Look Ichiraku-san, I respect that you want to protect Naruto, but is this really the best way to go about it? Think about it, you love her more then anything in this world, do you really want her to go the the tough life as a kunoichi?" Sarutobi said. The vendor just smiled to himself.

"That boy, he's like one of my own. The teachers mostly alienate him and the students distance themselves from him. If she enters the academy with him, he'll at least have something, someone to guide him. I know it's hard, but Ayame wants to do this. She suggested this. I dare you to try to tell her no just to have her look at you with an ten-year old pouty face."

"But with your suggestion, she would be two years behind. Do you want her ridiculed like that Ichiraku-san?"

"No I don't. However, if I don't she'll never forgive me."

"Fine, effective tomorrow, I will enroll Ichiraku Ayame into the ninja academy as a first year student." _For his sake I hope this works. I know that she'll be good for him, but will she be strong enough._

** Time skip 4 years.**

An orange clad boy ran through the streets being chased down by a group of chunins for his latest gag. The blond boy was somewhat famous for his gags and tricks that he liked to play. He's done things from basic hair mutation, small-scale theft of food and tools, and outright destruction of the reputation of those who scorned him.

He himself was very quick and light on his feet. The child was also a gifted tactician and clever with his disguises. For him, getting caught was just a way for him to enhance his training. His knowledge of the streets was far above the average ninja. In fact, he was so hard to catch, that the Hokage himself had to assign a D-ranked mission just to catch the poor kid. They all failed.

Only two people ever caught the boy. One was his teacher Iruka. He was fast and agile as well. Plus he taught the kid andknew most of his gags. The other was ..

"NARUTO-KUN GET BACK HERE NOW!" Shouted a girl two years his senior.

_ Shit, Ayame. Oh well she just lets me off with no ramen for the day, then I plead sorry, she cracks, we laugh about the thing. _A young girl dressed in an all-white waitress uniform grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him into the local sewer, knowing that none of the ninja, well, nobody really wants to go down there.

Ayame was Naruto's best and really only friend in the academy. She trained with him and corrected all of the mistakes that he made when he was in class. Where one of them was, the other was right behind the other. The two met when Naruto was only six and she was eight. Her father owned the ramen shop where Naruto always spent his time, and his money. When he entered the academy at age eight, he was constantly ignored and ridiculed. Sure he had running buddies, but they just abandoned him when trouble came. Teachers would always trick him into studying the wrong material or giving him bad hand signs or advice on how to fail. Needless to say, he finished his first two months down and depressed.

When Ayame entered two years later, he did much better. She was able to point out what he did wrong and was able to correct it. Ayame still helped her father out at the ramen stand, but still attended the academy. She also got the hyperactive kid to settle down and study with a simple bribe. If he did well and understood the material, she gave him a big bowl of homemade ramen. Though she was ridiculed as well for associating with the boy, she was happy because she knew that she was doing what she had to because that's what best-friends do.

When the traffic had cleared above the two, Ayame peeked her head around from the top of sewer and looked around. Seeing the coast clear, she helped her friend up from the depths of the disgusting sewer. After Naruto got up, Ayame began her onslaught of verbal attacks.

"Naruto-kun what did you do this time to piss off so many people? My father won't be happy when I come back smelling you know?"

"Well Ayame-neechan, we had a test today you know, and I did really well thanks to you, but the Iruka-sensei gave me a zero and accused me of cheating because my answers matched Ino's. So I got mad and left the class, but when I did I used 'it' on the class. And the rest, you know."

"Well did you cheat? Did you copy the fan girl?" Ayame asked, putting her arms across her chest.

"No Ayame-neechan. I knew the stuff. You know I did. We went over it for hours. She must have cheated, but Iruka-sensei took her side." Naruto said. He started to cry at this point. Ayame just put her arms around the boy and pulled him into a hug.

_ It must be hard. He's the only one that teaches him, and when he succeeds he turns around and betrays him. _Ayame continued to console the boy. "You know usually I punish you for something like this, then you put on an act to get me change my mind, finally I let you off the hook anyway." Ayame said.

"Yep." Naruto answered with a laugh.

"Well let's skip all that for today and get you something to eat okay?" Naruto agreed happily and the two best friends went out to get some ramen.

When the pair got there, Ayame got the usual, "change and bathe" routine from her father while Naruto told the aged vendor about what he did. Tensui was very sympathetic towards the boy and gave him a bowl, or six, of ramen. As Naruto was eating, term used loosely, Iruka entered the stand.

"Ah Naruto, I thought I'd find you here. I wanted to talk to you about today." Iruka started.

"No let me talk to you about today Iruka-san," Tensui started. "Now Naruto and Ayame studied hard for that test. I know, I was there. There's no way that he would cheat. He knew the stuff."

"Look Tensui, I understand your comments, I really do. But Naruto acts different and less confident when Ayame is not in class. With her not there he may have panicked and cheated. The answers were identical. How else can you explain it?"

"How about that Ino cheated Iruka-sensei?" Ayame said now appearing cleaned up and changed.

"Ino wouldn't cheat Ayame. She's among the top of the class and well prepared. She also comes from a prestigious clan who would not take kindly to cheating. Therefore it doesn't seem likely that she'd cheat."

"Really? That girl does nothing then stalk Sasuke all day and you know it. She was not ready because of some bogus nonsense. Naruto is among the best in the class, right up there with Shino, Lucien, and Sasuke. Yet his rank is low because of this bullshit and you know it." Ayame yelled. At this point she was in heavy tears and Naruto jumped over the counter to embrace the girl.

"I'm sorry about this Tensui but I had to punish one of them and Ino is a Yamanaka." Iruka said.

"Yes I do. Unfortunately Iruka-san I understand everything going on here." Tensui said. "Can Ayame take her make-up tomorrow morning?"

"Yes that seems nice. I assume that she'll be in class and not working here."

"Yeah. I just needed some help because today is our busy day with finals right around the corner. But she won't miss another day until finals. I'm looking for a temp to cover for when she becomes a kunoichi, but with the money she'll make as a genin I'm sure I can do it."

The next morning Ayame got up and got dressed in her shinobi outfit. She now wore a white shirt that exposed her slender stomach. She also wore a red coat over her chest and shoulders that left her arms and stomach exposed. Ayame also wore a red-slitted skirt with black spandex under that. Her hair remained the exact same. She had pouches attached to the skirt to keep all of her ninja supplies in.

She took the test and passed it with the greatest of ease knowing that her blond friend knew this stuff. She was still really miffed that Naruto got accused of the crime and was just waiting for something to set her off so that she could vent. She walked into the courtyard and saw Sakura Haruno, a pink-haired girl with way too long of hair, wearing a red dress with a circle on the back, and Ino Yamanaka herself picking on Naruto. Ino had long blond hair the same length as Sakura wearing a purple dress. Her waist was tied down with a yellow belt. _Hello misplaced aggression._

_..._

Naruto woke up and did his morning routine. The blond then put on a blue shirt and blue shorts with shinobi sandals. He really liked those goggles because they were a birthday gift from Ayame. Naruto and Ayame had come to an agreement, that when he was with her at the academy, he wouldn't wear his hideous jumpsuit.

His cheerful morning came to an end though when his crush, Sakura Haruno announced that the cheater was in. Her fellow Sasuke worshiper Ino game over to join in the torment. Naruto didn't know why Sakura, his crush, treated him the way she did, but it hurt him badly. She never did it in front of Ayame though because she scarred all the girls.

"So Naruto-baka, what are you gonna do today. Geez why even bother cheating. If you're so bad at everything shinobi related, why even try. You know that life isn't a game you know?" Sakura jeered.

"Yeah, I mean I understand that Ayame wasn't there for you to cheat from, but I'm honored that you thought that I'm smarter then the world's biggest forehead over here."

Naruto never argued with Sakura. She was the first person to sympathize with him and be nice to him, but she changed after she met Sasuke. With Naruto being a rival to Sasuke, Sakura immediately took the side of the Uchiha. He knew that he just had to buck up and take it no matter how much it hurt him inside.

While the two girls laughed at the boy's expense, they failed to notice the growing killing intent coming, and the appearance of the person who no girl wanted to mess with, Ayame Ichiraku. Quick as a hiccup, Ayame ran across the schoolyard and punched Sakura right in the side of the face. Sakura then flew across the yard before coming to a rest at the base of a tree. Ino looked terrified as Ayame did not look like she wanted to play, but Ino attacked with a punch to Ayame's face. Ayame dodged the attack. She then used her legs to trip and then used her legs to trap Ino's left leg. Ayame also reached her long arms around Ino's neck and began to pull hard on her leg and neck. (1).

"Give up Yamanaka?" Ayame jeered. Ino continued to struggle against the submission move futilely. Sakura knocked unconscious from Ayame's punch and every other girl was too afraid of Ayame to incur the girl's wrath. Ino had no escape.

"Fine I give. Get off me." Ino yelled.

"Who cheated on the test yesterday Ino? Be honest." Ayame yelled.

"Uh Naruto did you know that." Ayame was not satisfied with the answer so she pulled harder on Ino's neck and leg causing the girl to cry out in pain. Ayame then asked Ino the question again.

"Let me rephrase the question Ino. Who cheated on the test yesterday?"

"Urg fine I did alright?" Ino mumbled. Ayame continued to have Ino in her submission move, and again she pulled harder on the girl forcing her to cry from the pain.

"Louder!" Ayame ordered. "Let the field know who cheated."

"I CHEATED ON YESTERDAY'S TEST OKAY?!" Ino yelled. As soon as she said that Ayame let Ino out of the move. Ayame smirked because not only did everybody know who really did the dirty deed, but because she also knew that Iruka had heard the confession by the blond. He stood at the entrance of the school and was livid.

"INO YAMANAKA, MY CLASS NOW!" Iruka yelled as his head mysteriously increases its size threefold. Ino shot a glare at Naruto, but afterward received a glare from Ayame.

The crowd that had gathered around Ayame just stared at her oped mouthed and wide-eyed. Most were shocked that Ino actually cheated on a test with the village pariah. Naruto walked up to the smirking and victorious girl.

"Ayame-neechan thanks, but you really didn't have to do that. I'm fine the way things are." Naruto said, frowning.

"You're right, I didn't have to, but I wanted to." Ayame said as she ruffled Naruto's hair. "And what are you all staring at?" She yelled to the crowd of people. The ring surrounding the pair quickly scattered, except for four people. One was a boy with onyx black hair with matching eyes and a fan symbol on his back. Another had hair in the shape of a pineapple and a lazy look in his eyes. The third had long silver hair that reached down to his middle back. He wore a green shirt with black shorts. His feet were taped as opposed to sandals and his hands were taped as well. The boy also and yellow eyes. The forth one was a large kid with a weird hat on his head.

"Bye Naruto-kun, I don't want to miss the lashing. Catch ya in class." Ayame said as she ran back into the school.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru, the lazy looking one said.

"Well done dobe, getting a girl to fight your battles for you. Too weak to stick up for yourself?" Sasuke, the black-haired boy jeered.

"Is that really necessary Uchiha," Lucien, the silver-haired boy asked. "I mean yeah you're good and everything, but seriously Naruto here has honor and pride to not fight girls." Lucien didn't like Sasuke one bit, and the two were constantly at each others throats.

"Besides Sasuke," the fat one started, "do you really want to interrupt an angry Ayame?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he walked away from the group.

"What a jackass," Lucien said. "I wonder why the girls swoon over that guy anyway."

"Hey Lucien show some respect. I mean Sasuke is the lone surviver of one of the most prestigious clans in the leaf. You really shouldn't be so hard on the guy." Choji said.

"Bah. His clan was killed over seven years ago. Child just needs to grow up and have someone put him in his place." Lucien replied.

"I realize that this may be a troublesome question and all, but what do you have against the guy. I mean, you two have never gotten along. The reason that Iruka never has you two spar anymore is because last time you both nearly killed each other."

"I don't hold grudges Shikamaru. He acts that because he had a bad incident, then he's entitled to a lifelong pass on the Konoha Kiss My Ass Club." Lucien responded.

"Well yeah but who had a worse life then Sasuke does? I mean doesn't that entitle him to pity?" Choji said.

"Others have had worse. I believe the saying is 'it's better to have loved and lost, then to never have loved at all.' He had parents for a long time in his life before they were killed. Don't get me wrong that is traumatizing, but would you rather have nothing your whole life and never get a hand up?" Lucien asked.

"Yeah but who could have lived such a life?" Choji asked. Lucien then took a brief glance at Naruto. It was very brief, but just long enough for both children in question to notice it.

"It's not important. Come on let's get to class."

After the dust settled Sakura barely opened up one of her eyes, to make sure that the boys had forgotten about her. Even though she was heavily biased towards Sasuke throughout her entire life, she had to admit that Lucien had some interesting points about sympathy. She also didn't miss the look that Lucien gave Naruto. It was a look that said, that he didn't pity the boy. But still understood the pain that he'd gone through.

Lucien himself was an enigma to the entire class really. He never opened up to anyone and would rip Sasuke apart whenever he got the chance. Up until now, Sakura assumed that those reactions were based off of jealousy towards the Uchiha. Now however, she wasn't so sure.

Inside the classroom Iruka was going over some of the basics for the final test coming up in the next week. This lecture was a practice and a review over the Henge jutsu. Iruka, however told the class that this was punishment for what Ino had done to Naruto the previous day. He smirked evilly in his head. _That's what you get for cheating and blaming Naruto for it._

He had everyone line up in a single file line and asked them to henge into himself. Sasuke was first and did a perfect henge of the chunin instructor. He just grunted after doing it successfully making his fan-girls squeal, some guys turn red with jealousy, and a few others to just sigh in their heads.

Sakura was next in line for attempting the jutsu and performed it to absolute perfection. However when she finished she didn't look to Sasuke for approval, or glare at Ayame internally saying, beat that. She just turned to the back of the line, still mulling over the words that Lucien spoke earlier.

Naruto was next to go for the demo. He had a look on his face that meant certain mischief. Ayame recognized that look and had a good idea what he was going to do. _Well if this works we got blackmail material, if not then he's gonna get it almost as bad as Ino did._ Her fears were realized when he transformed into a woman Iruka's age with her blond hair split into pigtails. Her clothing was, well, nonexistent, but there was some smoke covering the critical areas. Iruka was mystified and fainted on the spot as did all the guys, save one or two, and one or two of the girls. Naruto laughed loudly, rolling on the floor, Ayame giggled trying, and failing, to keep composure, Lucien shook his head trying to keep from passing out, and most of the girls were livid.

Sakura immediately got red in the face from anger and went to hit the re-transformed Naruto in the head, as hard as she could. Her fist was caught by a glaring Ayame.

"Now I know that you weren't going to hit my best friend in the head there were you Sakura?" Ayame used a special voice that insured pain for all who answered incorrectly.

"How can you defend this baka after what he did? That henge is a disgrace against women. It degrades us Ayame. You may not think highly of yourself as woman but I certainly do." Sakura said. After this comment, Naruto, Lucien, and even Ino widened their eyes thinking, _did she just say what I think she said._

Ayame without even thinking twice about it, took the arm that she caught and pushed her to the ground with the arm still caught. She then grabbed Sakura's other arm and put her foot on the small of Sakura's back and began to pull Sakura's arms hard. Sakura screamed in pain while Ino just remembered the pain that Ayame put her in no longer then four hours ago.

"Listen you pink-haired fan girl. You think that I don't have pride as a woman? In case you didn't notice, that technique knocked out over half of our class and the teachers. Heck it even KO'd your precious Sasuke. I'd say that a technique like that could be useful don't you?" Even though she got no answer she continued.

"As far as my female pride, you think that because I actually, you know, train instead of plotting ways to get your precious Sasuke to like you." Ayame released Sakura from her painful hold. "In case you didn't notice, and I do notice what you girls say behind my back, I have no personal life. All I do is train, go here, and tend the ramen shop, while you girls are out pampering yourselves, plotting to get some boy, and just doing nothing. And you wonder why I'm so far ahead of you."

"So are you saying that if I want to take on a group of shinobi, all I need to do is strip and look 15?" Sakura asked rhetorically.

"Sakura for the love of all that is good and precious, for the sake of every man, woman, and Sasuke, don't strip." Lucien jeered. Sakura wanted to go over and hit Lucien over the head, but after coming to her senses, decided against it.

Iruka got up after a while a berated Naruto for his use of stupid techniques. However the blond responded to the teacher in a similar manner to him that Ayame did. Class broke out that day and everybody went home. After class however, he apologized for the incident the previous day and gave Naruto his rightful score on the test and Ino scored a giant goose egg.

The week flew by and before everyone knew it, the gennin exams were the next day. Naruto and Ayame trained side-by-side all week preparing for the exams. After day broke and night fell, Naruto still didn't feel confident. He knew that he could do well in taijutsu and break a simple genjutsu, but the basic ninjutsu still scared him. After training all week he could do the basic bunshin but not proficiently. He could make the clones and they did look a bit like him, but would it be enough to pass. He knew that he had to pass and be on the same team as Ayame.

He decided that he needed someone to talk to, so he went over to talk to Ayame. Maybe she could calm him down before the exams. He appeared in his usual place, the window, and knock on it until she woke up and let him in.

"Naruto-kun what are you doing here? We need some sleep for the exams tomorrow." Ayame said wiping her tired eyes.

"I can't do it. I mean that bunshin it's not good enough to pass and I don't know if my grades will cover it."

"Naruto-kun we've been over and over this. You just need to be in an absolute zone. Just focus your chakra and calm your nerves." Ayame reached around and pulled the blond into a hug. "I believe in you ya know. You can do this."

Naruto slept at her place that night and talked about the exam. It wasn't uncommon to find the boy at Ayame's house, especially before a test. They were comfortable around each other to the point where they could sleep in the same room without feeling the least bit uncomfortable. At least it had been that way until the previous year. For a reason unknown to Naruto, Ayame was getting a bit more uncomfortable with sleeping in the same room.

The campus around the Konoha Academy was buzzing with students for the exam. Emotions of the students ranged from anxious, eager, confident, doubt, and for one student, boredom. The exam was simple, every student was given 3 tests. If they failed even 1 test, unless they had a fallible excuse, game over and they failed. The teachers passed out the papers for the written portion of the exam. It consisted of some basic shinobi codes and guidelines. Naruto passed the exam with little difficulty. When the results were posted, he scored an 81. It ranged right in the middle of the pack. Leading the pack were Sakura who scored a 98, Sasuke who scored a 96, Ayame and Lucien both scored a 95, and Shikamaru turned in a paper with salivated answers. Still he scored a 68. Kiba hit bottom with a 62. It was a first for the academy, everyone passed the written test.

The second test was a test of taijutsu. Students were lined up against Iruka who tested students on their basic combat skills. Students were given 8 seconds to score a glancing blow. Every second past ten deducted, 2 points were deducted from the student's score. A couple of people scored a perfect. Sasuke, Lucien, and Kiba each hit a perfect. Ayame scored highest of the girls with a score of 94. Naruto hit Iruka for a 96. Of course, nobody felt happier about this then Ayame. The lowest score was Sakura who scored a 72. Once again all students passed this exam.

Ninjutsu was the final portion of the exam. They had to perform the three basic jutsu and they were scored based on each jutsu performed. One third of the points were given to each jutsu, henge, bunshin, and kawarmi. Henge were graded that every fault deducted 5 points from their score. Kawarmi was a pass or fail meaning if they could do it they got 33 points but got nothing if they couldn't. Bunshin was given half points if they could do the technique and points were deducted if they missed anything. Sasuke again scored perfect and was the only one to do so giving him rookie of the year. Naruto barely managed to pass scoring a 63. Ayame scored an 85 and again was the highest female who took the test. For the first time in history all students passed all portions of the exam.

Naruto and Ayame were excited to wear their headbands with the swirl of Konoha on the front. Naruto wore his on his forehead while Ayame's dangled from her neck. During the celebration Mizuki, a chunin assisstent of Iruka's, visited Naruto and pulled him away from his best-friend. Mizuki was dressed like an average chunin and wore long silver hair.

"Congratulations on passing Naruto. Unfortunately I have some bad news for you. You see your score on the ninjutsu portion was low, and that took you out of the running for being on a team with Ayame." Naruto's face fell at that he and Ayame wouldn't be on a squad but he was wondering just why Mizuki was telling Naruto this.

"Now if you manage to raise your grade by about seven points then statistically you and Ayame will be teammates. What I'm giving you is an extra-credit assignment." Mizuki offered.

"Extra-credit? What would I have to do to get the credit sensei?" Naruto asked.

"The assignment is to borrow a document that the Hokage has. Then I want you to learn a jutsu from it. If you pass you'll be teammates. I have a map here and I want you to take the scroll there when you get it. It's a secluded training spot only Iruka and I know about. See you tonight." Mizuki waved after he gave Naruto the scroll. After the meeting with Mizuki, Naruto searched for the companion that he got separated from. After a while of searching, he found her.

"Ah Naruto-kun I was looking everywhere for you. What happened." Ayame asked.

"Can we talk in a more secluded spot Ayame?" Naruto asked. "I don't feel comfortable about talking about it in public. Ayame agreed and the two went over to her house where they would have some privacy. Naruto then explained the whole deal with Mizuki to Ayame.

"That does sound odd. Nothing here adds up at all." Ayame said.

"I know. All signs lead to a trap but, what if he's right and we will get split up?" Naruto asked.

"It is risky but I say it's your call. I personally would side against it. It's just too weird." Ayame mentioned.

"I agree with that. He's definitely up to something. Ayame here's what we're gonna do."

...

That night Naruto went to do Mizuki's errand. He was easily able to sneak into the tower and got to the Hokage's office with little resistance which scared him. He got the scroll be using his oraike justu to force the old man into passing out. _And Iruka-sensei calls it a stupid jutsu. _He then took the scroll and went to the place that Mizuki marked on the map. He unfurled the scroll and studied the first technique on the list. It was the Kagebunshin Jutsu. _Hmm like regular bunshin only real. The possibilities._

He quickly decided that was the technique that he would learn. After about an hour he mastered the technique in just enough time for Iruka to drop down into the clearing.

"Naruto do you realize what you did? Why did you steal the scroll? You went way too far this time!" Iruka yelled. Naruto figured on something like this happening but faked into using a pouty face that always worked wonders on Ayame.

"But Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei said that if I could master a technique from this scroll, then Ayame-neechan and I would be teammates. Did he lie to me?" Naruto faked. Iruka fell for it worse then Ayame usually did.

_ He does look like he was training, but why here in this forest? Why not run off with it. Something smells here and I think Mizuki knows what it is._

"Ah Iruka so you found him. Good job Naruto, now give me the scroll and I can take you back to the village." Mizuki smiled distrustfully.

"No don't listen to him Naruto. Give me the scroll. He obviously wants the scroll for his own use." Iruka shouted back. For Naruto everything was going as he thought it may. However, what happened next, was not a part of the plan at all.

Mizuki smirked and tried a different card to get to Naruto. "Hey Naruto, do you know why the village hates you and treat you as an outcast?" Iruka cringed at this line.

"Mizuki don't. It's forbidden!" Iruka shouted. Naruto just stayed silent but his face showed that of shock. Somehow he knew that his life was going to change forever in just a few moments.

"Well the attack of the Kyuubi that decimated the village was a lie. True he did destroy many buildings and took countless lives but the Yondaime never killed the hokage, he sealed it." Iruka had heard enough and charged Mizuki right where he stood, but the chunin was ready and stuck Iruka to a tree using a trap that he set up for this purpose.

"W-what did he seal it into sensei?" Naruto barely squeaked out. He did not like where this was going but he knew that it wasn't time to spring the trap yet. He had to find out what was going on. "A-and how do I not know?"

"You." Mizuki stated with a sneer. Naruto felt his world crash down around him with that single word. He felt like Ayame herself drove a kunai into him to betray him. "Our present hokage made it clear that anyone who spoke of the truth would die of it. Now die Kyuubi!" Mizuki took out a large shuriken and threw it at Naruto. He felt like maybe if Mizuki killed him then he would do the village a favor. He closed his eyes and waited for the ultimate impact to happen, but before that could happen, he heard a shriek. A voice that could make everything right in the world.

"NARUTO-KUN!!" Ayame screamed as she dove in front of the attack. The shuriken hit her right in the ribs. Naruto felt Ayame's blood on him and began to cry. "Naru-to-kun. Don't l-listen t-to him." Ayame barely breathed out. "I don' c-care w-what's inside you. I c-care about y-you. I, luh, oo," were her last words before she passed out.

Naruto froze. He thought about what happened, that Ayame really did accept him for his burden, and now she was dead. "What a pity. She held such promise. Too bad she had to die for a dem ..."

"Shut up." Naruto said, completely devoid of any emotion. Red chakra started to circle around him in a cone shape as his body began to transform. His eyes turned from sky-blue to blood-red. The canines in his teeth grew and his fingernails grew into claws. Mizuki himself was scared out of his wits. He knew that he could take a gennin easy, but this was new. He could only think one thing. One thought that we all think when we know we went too far. _What did I just do?_

With blinding speed and rage he charged Mizuki and but him open in the chest. Before he could get away, Naruto grabbed his arm and his claws dug into Mizuki's wrist. He then kicked Mizuki to the ground headfirst and the impact broke his neck killing him instantly. Naruto calmed down after this and reverted to his normal state. He looked back to Ayame and saw an ANBU, a special forces of the leaf, beginning to heal Ayame. She had a blond ponytail that extended to her upper back and a face mask with a dragon on it. That was their backup plan. The ANBU, who was a bodyguard of sorts for Naruto, was supposed to intervene if things went wrong.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I think you had to hear that." Dragon started. "She'll be fine, the attack missed her lungs completely and I can heal her without major injury."

"You mean she'll be okay?" Naruto sniffled. "That's a relief. I'll get Iruka-sensei from the tree." Naruto got the teacher from the tree and sat in silence by Ayame's side. They all stayed in silence until Naruto asked the question. "It's true isn't it. I am a demon. I even killed a man." Naruto broke down crying at this point.

"No that's not true. Yes Kyuubi is sealed in you and apparently you can access its power, but you are not Kyuubi. Kyuubi killed thousands of innocent without remorse, in fact, he's probably proud of his action. Regardless of what you did, Mizuki would have died anyway for breaking the law." Iruka said, patting the boy on the back.

"Besides, you fought for Ayame, not yourself. You did what any shinobi of the leaf would be proud of, sticking up for a person that you care about. You should be proud." Dragon responded. Naruto felt a bit better of the situation now. He just wished that Ayame would wake up. Iruka broke the silence.

"Tomorrow I'm going to announce the gennin teams Naruto. I already have the teams if you want to know." Iruka said slyly.

"I know, Ayame and I aren't on the same squad. Mizuki told me." Naruto said dejectedly.

"Ayame won't be in class tomorrow for obvious reasons. I assume that you're going to be by her side" Naruto nodded in agreement. "Well Ayame's teammates are Lucien and you." Iruka said.

"Really?!" Naruto screamed. "That's awesome." Naruto rapped Iruka in a fierce hug. "Thank you sensei! Who's our sensei?"

"AH Naruto. That is a surprise. Your instructor will meet you three at the stand tomorrow afternoon at 5."

...

First chapter done. Now for the footnote

(1): I tried to describe it as best as I could. If you want to see it just type in youtube "John Cena STFU" Not a fan of WWE but a friend of mine is and the submission move seems like it'd work in this case. (Don't own WWE, Vince McMahon is the CEO.)

I tried to make it unique and put a spin on it that I haven't seen yet. As said the main pair is Naruto and Ayame. I think I was obvious about that. Lucien, my OC, will get a pair too but you yourselves can decide which female he gets. Choices are, Sakura, fem-Haku, Temari, Tayuya, or anybody else who you can give a GOOD reason for.

I know I haven't done any VP stuff yet, but that will come into play as I introduce Lucien a bit more.

I have no Beta either to look over this either so if you're interested please let me know.

Thanks for reading the first of many chapters. Please Review.


	2. Gennin exam

Fox, Waitress, Valkyrie Chapter 2

Thanks to all who reviewed for my first chapter. At the beginning of each chapter I will respond to a few of the reviews that I got.

Blitzfury: Yeah so many people make a bleach crossover and whatnot but I feel that a VP cross would be cool. You won't see Lenneth for a while though at chunin exam minimum. Lenneth teaching gennin would be hilarious.

Chips: Hey Tayuya is an option and she leads the voting now.

Darksnider: Don't worry, my oc's will be limited to just the ANBU, Lucien, and Team 7's replacement.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile Kishimoto and Square-Enix do respectively.

I know it may sound or come off as Sakura, Sasuke, Ino bashing a bit. I really don't want that but that's the way that I saw them. Let's face it opening Sakura and Ino were not good people. As for Sasuke, I portray him as I see him. A bit snotty and stuck up at this point. They will change don't worry about that.

...

The Hokage's office the next day was a mess. Several clan leaders and the Hokage's teammates were in and out periodically throughout the day asking about the chakra that was felt the previous night. Sarutobi told everyone the story and it got different reactions from the public. The extreme minority demanded the child's head which were immediately refuted. Most were a bit worried and uncomfortable with the situation, but were relieved to know that it was a one-time shot. A few though were proud of the child and felt relieved that he was an ally and not an enemy.

Most of the students in the classroom were none the wiser about the incident, and just chatting about like normal. Sakura and Ino were over Sasuke like Naruto on a bowl of ramen, Sasuke was asking "why me" over and over in his head, Shikamaru was sleeping, and Choji was snacking. Iruka went up in front of the class and made his announcement after enlarging his head and telling them to can it.

"Congratulations to all who passed the exam. For the first time ever every single prospect gennin passed the exam. From here on you will be split into teams. Since we had 28 graduates two teams will have a past graduate on your team. Any questions?"

"Sensei, Naruto and Ayame aren't here," Sakura pointed out. "Does that mean that they both failed or get kicked out of the program?"

"No to both questions Sakura. Ayame had an accident last night and he is by her bed. Both know of their teams already." Iruka answered. The class stirred at the announcement. Ayame getting severely hurt? Some wondered if that was a part of the commotion that their parents were talking about this morning.

"Oh. Is she alright then?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah she's fine but needs to rest for today at least, though they will meet their teammate and sensei later on today." Almost everyone caught on to teammate being singular and didn't really shock anybody. The two students knew pretty much everything about each other. Some people said things but they would never let Ayame hear them.

"Now on for the teams starting with team one which is the previously mentioned, Naruto, Ayame, and Lucien. Their sensei will be Mirage Arton." Lucien raised his eyes at his teammates, but after a while smiled at the proclamation.

_Boy did I get a stacked deck. With Naruto's motion, Ayame's submissions, and my bloodline we'll be an unstoppable unit. Just who is this Mirage lady though. I did my research on the jonin but her name never came up. Just who is she?_

Iruka continued going through the squads one by one until he got to squad seven. He knew that this squad would be a center of controversy and one that would bring the weight of every girl in the room on one. Sasuke Uchiha's team. "Team seven will be Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka started. The room was thick with tension. "Sakura Haruno," Iruka had to stop in order to let Sakura scream in joy. "and Sora Kiko, your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

"Iruka-sensei, who's Sora Kiko? There's nobody like that in this class." Sasuke said. Lucien busted out laughing here.

"What are you laughing at silver?" Sakura yelled. "Are you mad because I'm with the best?"

"No not at all pinky." Sakura picked up a book and threw it at Lucien for the insult. The boy caught it without even blinking. "Is this your way of telling me I don't read enough? Actually Sora Kiko is a friend of mine and a gennin graduate last year whose teammates died recently on a mission. Her female teammate was a fan girl over Neji Hyuuga. She got her and her teammate killed because she never focused on training. Good luck."

Sakura and all other girls in the room fell silent. All their lives they were told that death was a possibility but never could they relate to it. At least that was the way it was until that moment. That statement really killed the mood in the classroom. Some though thought it was another mind game that the boy was playing on people. Sakura sat down and Iruka continued.

"Team eight will be Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. Your sensei will be Yuuchi Kuranai. Team nine is still in circulation." Iruka said while chatter started back up in the back of the room.

"Man this sucks. The worlds largest forehead gets the awesome Sasuke while I haven't gotten a team yet." Ino Yamanaka complained. "I mean even whitey got a good teammate and a goofball."

"Troublesome. Ino you do realize that the goofball was the same person who you had to cheat off of last week." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah well I had better things to do then study some code or other nonsense."

"Did you even listen to what Lucien said about fan girls getting themselves killed?"

"Bah that team was probably weak, that's why she's stuck with Sasuke." While Ino argued with Shikamaru Iruka had started to announce team ten as Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Ino buried her head in her hand while Shikamaru just sighed as well. After the team announcement, a young woman entered the door. She was dressed in average jonin wear with a leaf insignia strapped to the top of her head. She had a blond ponytail the went to her back and ninja sandals.

"Lucien come with me," said the mysterious Mirage. The pair walked out of the room and after while Kiba let out the first words.

"Does that guy scare anyone in here or is it just me?" About half of the students agreed with him and then went on with their business.

...

It was nine hours after she passed out when Ayame woke up from her sleep. She saw the roof of her room which she saw every day of her life. Well almost every day of her life. She knew that her chest and sides hurt a lot which meant that she was at least alive. She also noticed that Naruto was at her bedside sleeping and holding her hand. She blushed under his touch when she realized just wheat she said the previous night. Or at least what she tried and failed to say.

_Did he understand what I said. Oh my gosh what if he did? What if he doesn't like me anymore? Wait if he didn't like me then why would he be here? What if he only wants to be friends though. _It was uncharacteristic for Ayame to speak like that, but she never spoke like that. She always thought that even if you like a guy, it's never a good idea to base everything that you do around him like some girls her age, or two years younger, thought. She laid like that for a while until Naruto woke up. The minute he saw that she was awake he made Ayame very uncomfortable, and in a lot of pain.

"Oh Ayame-neechan you're awake. I'm soo sorry about last night. Please forgive me." Naruto cried.

"Yes Naruto-kun I'm fine. But could you, like, get off me. I'm kinda in pain now." Ayame replied. After he got off her the two sat in silence each one afraid of what the other person might say. Naruto, who was really uncomfortable with the silence spoke first.

"So Ayame-neechan, do you hate me for, you know?" Ayame would have slapped her forehead if it didn't hurt to move. Here she was afraid that he would reject her for nearly admitting that she liked him while he was afraid that she didn't like him. Irony at its finest. She still had his hand and she just gave it a small squeeze.

"Of course not Naruto-kun. I said so last night. I didn't see what happened afterward though. What happened after I blacked out?" She noticed how Naruto looked away as if he was afraid of what she might say to him. He figured that if she heard the story she might reject him which would absolutely devastate the boy. He knew though also that lying to Ayame was pointless. She knew him almost as well as he knew himself.

"Well I kinda went nuts on Mizuki and, well, uh, I kinda killed him." Naruto said. He was surprised however when Ayame willed herself into a sitting position and gave him a painful, on her part, hug. Naruto was shocked, as he thought that she would slap him and call him a murderer. He also felt his shoulders dampen a bit from Ayame's tears.

"It must have been hard. Living your life called a demon. I won't even pretend to know what it's like but still. What you did to Mizuki would have been done anyway by ANBU or the hokage himself even. He was a traitor and traitors die. You did the right thing." Both teens sat in each others embrace for a few minutes until a knock on the door forced the two a part. Ayame for her part was as red as an apple, while Naruto was a bit red but he didn't know why. Tensui entered the room carrying two bowls of ramen in his hands and was a bit surprised to see his daughter with a red face. He knew at this point that he had blackmail for years to come.

"I heard what happened and I'm glad that you both are fine. Iruka-san told me that you'd be fine and needed your rest so I waited until I heard talking and then no talking to get you food." Tensui said as he set the bowls down on the stand. Ayame's eyes shot open as she just remembered something important.

"Shit Iruka-sensei. Class. Team assignments. We'll be late." Ayame started screaming about random one to three word sentences until Naruto put both hands on the girl's shoulders calming her down.

"It's okay Ayame-neechan. Iruka-sensei told us that we could miss today and meet at the stand at five to meet our teammate and sensei." Naruto told her.

"Oh. Wait our teammate. You mean?"

"Yup we're on the same team."

"Who's our teammate? Did he tell you?"

"Yeah it's Lucien. He didn't tell me who our sensei is though. I guess we'll find out later eh."

"Yeah. Hey tou-san, who's running the store now?"

"We're closed for now. I was going to head there right after you woke up. Well I need to leave now after all time is money and when you waste time, you waste money, and that's just sick." Tensui laughed. He kissed Ayame on the forehead and set out to earn his own money. After all, how many parents can have a fourteen-year old daughter making more money then him?

The two ate their ramen and talked a bit about some of the horrors of Naruto's life, the pressures of becoming a brand new gennin, and about their new mystery teammate Lucien. Another topic that came up was their ninja picture. All ninjas of the village were required to get a picture that would appear on their portfolio. Since they didn't get their photo taken yet, they discussed many options on how to take it. Naruto wanted himself in some crazy make-up type deal while he flashed a strange and bizarre pose. Ayame wanted no part of that. The waitress wanted something a little more direct with both in the shot. Her poses her a bit intimate in a certain detail with her touching his shoulder or something like that.

The two decided on a compromise and after Ayame was strong enough to walk again, the two went to get their shots taken. The photo was a simple one. Naruto and Ayame shared the same photo. She and him stood back to back with their headbands on. Naruto had his hands in the position for the kagebunshin jutsu and smiling, while Ayame had a kunai drawn with her left arm and her right guarding her face, and smirking. The left arm was positioned straight down with her elbow locked and the blade facing the camera. Both ninja thought that the picture looked sick.

Sarutobi was happy with the picture because it showed the two of them for what they were, great friends, teammates, and possibly something far greater than either of those two.

After they were done, they went to Ichiraku Ramen to meet with their team. They were at the shop ten minutes early and their teammate and sensei had yet to show up. Naruto and Ayame decided to have a bowl, or five in Naruto's case, to help pass the time and gain strength for a possible mission or training that they would have to undergo. The two people arrived right at 5:00.

Naruto and Ayame immediately recognized the hair and voice of their new sensei as the ANBU who helped them in the Mizuki case. They decided not to bring anything up about it to Lucien though.

"So this is team one. I must say that you three look impressive. Now how about the four of us get to know each other by telling us about their likes, dislikes, dreams, and your combat specialties. I'll start. My name is Mirage-sensei to the three of you. I like training and learning new things. I dislike people who don't take ninja life seriously. My dream is," Mirage turned her head and looked out into the distance, "private. My combat style is all-around. I have no strengths but no weaknesses either. Now how about you next silver."

Lucien's eye twitched at being called the color of his hair. "Well my name is Lucien. I have no clan affiliation so just Lucien will do. My likes are playing mind games with people. I dislike a certain clan with onyx eyes and people who blindly follow orders. My dream is to meet my parents again. As far as my strengths, well I can get into the minds of my opponents and getting them to doubt themselves." Lucien smirked at the last statement. Mirage sweat dropped at the prospect of another Ibiki Moreno on her hands. That scarred the crap out of her.

"Nicely done. Why not you next girl?"

"Well my name is Ayame Ichiraku. I'm older then Naruto and Lucien because I started the academy two years late. My likes are Naruto-kun and my family. My dislikes are people who chastise those for things that they can't control and fan girls. My dream is," Ayame couldn't finish her statement because her face turned a shade of red not previously known. She then caught her train of thought and finished. "I want to be a strong kunoichi despite the odds. My offense is unique. Instead of your basic exchange of fists and whatnot, I dodge attacks and turn them into a deadly submission maneuver."

"Interesting. That true you two?" Mirage asked.

"Yeah Ayame-neechan is amazing. Nobody ever escapes her holds ever." Naruto boasted.

"I'd say so. When Ayame-san had Yamanaka in one of them, I felt my own neck start to ache." Lucien commented.

"Well that was informative. Why not you go next Naruto-kun?" Mirage asked.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, remember it. I like ramen and Ayame-neechan, I dislike the waiting time for ramen and watching my friend get hurt. My dream is to become hokage and protect all my friends and everyone." Naruto began confidently. "As far as my offense, I can make solid clones of things. I also have good strength and speed for a gennin my age."

_Well so I have a boy who trusts me much more then his teammates, but still respects them enough to let them in. The girl likes Naruto-kun that much is obvious. Despite that though, she has a good reach on life and reality. Naruto-kun is strong and confident, but he lacks style and grace. All in all, I got the cream of the crop I think. A well-rounded team with no weaknesses, the way of my home village._

"Well now, that wasn't too painless was it? Now we are going to do your real gennin test." Mirage said.

"Wait what do you mean real gennin test? We took that yesterday didn't we?" Ayame asked.

"No that was the test to see if you are physically ready to take the real test. Unlike the previous test this one has a two thirds chance of failure. Pass this and you become a gennin. If you fail, then you take a more advanced class and wait to become gennin."

All three prospects reacted differently to the news. Ayame sat there in shock that after all this effort then she still may get held back. Lucien's eyes slanted and glared at Mirage with a fierce look of determination. Naruto was livid because of all the stuff that he went through to become a gennin.

"We will begin when we reach training ground nine. From there I will reveal to you the exam and qualifications that you need to pass the test."

The four left the stand and went to the training ground. It only took a few minutes to get there but the ground was not quite what they expected. It was a clearing in the middle of the forest. A small creek ran through the center of the clearing and trees surrounded the grounds. The ground wasn't an exact circle but it somewhat looked like it.

"Welcome to ground nine. It's one of two gennin training grounds located in this forest. I chose this place because it's secluded from everything. Should you pass this exorcise I don't want anyone to know how I train you guys. It's special but I'll go into details after the test." She put her hands into a seal that was very similar to Naruto's new favorite jutsu. "Kagebunshin no jutsu." Two identical copies of her appeared to each side of her. "Each of my clones will take you away and tell you the conditions of the test."

One clone took Ayame away, one took Lucien away, and the other took Naruto away. When they traveled a good distance away the clone spoke again to Naruto. "The test is simple. When you get back to the clearing one of your teammates will be me in disguise. To pass, you need to figure out which one is me. You have one hour. Good luck Naruto-kun." The clone went off in a cloud of smoke and Naruto rushed back into the clearing. He and his two teammates arrived at the same time. They stood in a perfect triangle looking from one person to the next. Finally Lucien broke the silence.

"Okay one of us is sensei. We need to find out who it is. Any ideas?"

"Well we could ask each other questions that only one of us would know. If they don't know the answer or answer wrong we can identify the imposer." Ayame said.

"Yeah but everything that we know she probably knows too Ayame-neechan. I mean Lucien doesn't know me like you do." Naruto suggested. "How about you and I ask each other questions and go with your idea?" (1).

"Good idea Naruto-kun. I'll start. What is my biggest pet peeve?"

"Animals dressed as humans. What phenomenon scares the shit out of me?"

"Kira Draco Lord of the dance."

"What? That guy who does a dance from another country?" Lucien asked.

"His legs flail about as if they're independent from his body. How does that not scare you?" Naruto responded.

"Hey I just thought of something. If it's answers that only the two of you would know, then how do I know who's telling the truth or who may be lying to trick me?" Lucien asked. Naruto and Ayame didn't say anything about this. It was a small detail that both of them missed out on. They sat in silence until Lucien suggested a different mode for figuring out who's the fake.

"Naruto who's faster you or Ayame?"

"I'm a little faster then neechan. Why?"

"Because we all arrived at the same time. If you're faster then Ayame, then she must be the imposter."

"No. Suppose she stopped us at different locations. Assuming that she did then we could have gotten here at the same time." Naruto replied. Again the three were silent. Naruto was right about this one. Naruto rested his fist on his chin and looked at Ayame. Ayame put her hands on her hips and looked back to Naruto. He then rubbed his forehead three times and she tapped her foot behind her four times. Naruto pointed his finger at Lucien.

"It's you. You're the fake!" Ayame followed suit and threw a kunai at him. Lucien dodged and calmly responded.

"How can you say that? What makes you think that I'm Mirage-sensei?"

"Simple. Naruto-kun and I discussed it before. If we got into a situation where we couldn't identify each other, then we'd respond in a certain code. By figuring that none of us could be the one, then that left you." Ayame finished. Mirage transformed from her body and appeared back with the crowd. A kagebunshin then appeared with the original Lucien in tow.

"Good job. I wondered if the two of you could figure this part out and you did. Lucien was tested two with a simple pass or fail question and he answered correctly."

"What'd you ask him Mirage-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"She asked me which one of you was the better teammate."

"Who'd you say?" Naruto asked again.

"I told her that the question was bogus. Both of you have strengths and weaknesses. To say that one of you is better is a terrible question. Better is relative and sensei needed to know if I knew that. Now I have a question to ask you sensei?"

"Sure Lucien. What do you need to ask me?"

"How did you do that? That was no ordinary henge that you used to disguise yourself against these two. What did you do and how did you do it?"

"It's my bloodline. It allows me to copy a persons image perfectly after seeing them only once. Vocal cords, muscle depth, clothing, you get the idea."

"Is this what you really look like or is your true form look different then you do now?" Ayame wondered.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mirage said. "Well at least now we're a team. Lucien, do you have anything that you want to discuss with your teammates?" Naruto and Ayame looked over to Lucien in confusion. They didn't know what he could possibly be hiding.

"I suppose that I have no choice. Before I do though, can you both promise me that you'll never repeat what I'm going to do." Naruto and Ayame nodded their heads as a confirmation that they would agree to keep his bloodline a secret. They had no idea why though.

Sensei, could you create a kagebunshin for me?" Lucien asked. Mirage complied and created a clone that Lucien could use. He concentrated some chakra into his hand and fired it into the clone. When the beam hit the clone, the clone was encased in a large crystal lattice.

"Wow that's cool! What kind of jutsu is that Lucien?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not done yet." He focused another beam of chakra into his hands and fired it again at the crystal. This time when it hit, Lucien transferred his location with that of the crystallized clone. Naruto and Ayame widened their eyes even farther then before. "That's one part of my bloodline. I take energy from the great tree Yggdrasil and combine it with my chakra to form a photon. No seals or anything. When it hits a vessel like a human, animal, or clone, it crystallizes it. When I hit that same crystal with another photon, I switch place with the crystal instantly."

"If it hits a something like a tree or rock or something like that it clumps." Lucien fired a photon at a tree and a crystal formed again. "If I hit that same spot," he fired at the spot and the crystal increased its size. "it gains size. If I hit it again a second time," he fired another photon at the crystal and it again increased size. "It gets even bigger but if I hit it a third time it shatters." Lucien fired another photon at the crystal and sure enough it violently shattered. Naruto and Ayame were speechless at the display. "Any questions?"

"Yeah what's the Ygg dra something that you mentioned?" Naruto asked.

"It's the tree that gives life and energy to the planet."

"Oh well doesn't that harm the planet then?" Ayame asked.

"No. when an organism breaks from it's prison, the energy that I absorbed from Yggdrasil gets absorbed back into the planet. Besides the energy taken is so minuscule compared to the planet that I may as well take nothing."

"Still that is impressive." Ayame responded.

"Yeah, you're really cool Lucien. Can you teach me to channel this energy?"

"No. Only one of Valkyrie blood can do this. Sorry but you're body won't be able to channel it."

"Oh." Naruto looked a bit down at this info but cheered back up after a few moments.

_He's still afraid of what Naruto-kun and Ayame will think of his bloodline's full power. There's a reason __why his people were hunted down by various clans and why he had to abandon his clan name. He has much more power then this that he'll have to bring forth. Naruto-kun will also have to come clean about his burden as well. Ayame's a mature girl and will easily be able get along with the two when they do come forth with their secrets. I just wonder if they will accept me and all the secrets that I have. I doubt that I'll tell them anytime soon._

_..._

I made this chapter a bit shorter then the previous one. I introduced every OC that I'll use in this story. As I said previously I'm not into an OC carnival.

(1) Ok I borrowed those lines from a TV show. I just wanted a humorous aspect of it. If anyone can guess where they're from and what episode you'll get ... a nice well done in the next chapter. Anyway they and the writers get the credit for those questions.

I put a few secrets in here. As some of you guessed, Lucien will have Lenneth/Alicia's abilities. As far as why his clan was hunted I'll explain later. I also gave Mirage a bit of a mystery.

I know what a couple may think and say that Mirage is Mirage Koas from Star Ocean 3. Not the same person or crossover but the name Mirage suited the character that I wanted.

Wow that's a lot of notes. Please review and thank you for reading the second chapter of my fic.

Till next time guys.


	3. Training and chores

Fox, Waitress, Valkyrie Chapter 3

Gennin Training and Opening Chores

All right moving on to chapter 3. I'll do my customary answering of my reviews.

Blitzfury- Yeah I made him a descendant. I too am leaning towards him being a decedent of Rufus and Alicia. Mainly because Lenneth really doesn't have a solid pair to work on and the name Lucien is taken. I don't really like her paired with Lezard anyway. Don't worry I'll work around the ending.

Lordhatred- Thanks

DeExil- Thanks. I know right. Oh well if I write people will review. Hey at least my hits are up from chapter 1. It's a start, and I got on my first C2.

Some of you may have noticed that I bumped this story up to an M rating. I won't add any scenes that I would think earn that rating but I'd rather be safe then sorry. I don't want this getting deleted you know.

Now let me explain something about Sasuke that I used in this chapter. While Sasuke had a complex about killing his brother he also felt the need several times to prove that he's better then everybody else. On several occasions he tries to act like a big shot and better then everyone else. So before I get reviews, the bad kind that I don't want, about how I either made Sasuke OOC or bashed him, I just made Sasuke the way that I saw him.

...

"Most gennin instructors will get them into missions right away." Mirage explained to her team. "I don't do that until you have mastered the elements."

"The elements? You mean as in ninjutsu?" Naruto asked.

"No. In my native village each gennin team was well rounded like all of the elements. Earth, wind, fire, lightning, and water. Each element serves its own purpose to balance nature. Well each element responds to a different aspect of fighting. Water represents fluidity, fire represents control, wind represents freedom, earth represents strength, and lightning represents speed. Until this squad collectively masters every element, you won't go on any missions."

"How exactly do we show you that we mastered the element though sense?" Ayame wondered.

"Each element has its own test. I'll give each of you the test to start with, but before I even think of entering you for advancement you must pass all the tests and my basic elemental training. In my old village, passing those tests was a requirement for entering the chunin exams, but we're getting ahead of ourselves." Mirage responded.

"Sensei that's twice now that you mentioned your old village. What village did you come from?" Lucien asked. Mirage turned her head to the side as if the boy had just opened an old wound.

"Sorry, I can't tell you. In time you'll know, just not now." Lucien left their sensei alone after that question and let her resume her training lecture.

"Now let's begin with the first test lightning." Mirage reached into a sealing scroll and pulled out a soccer ball. "In order to pass the test of lightning, you must keep the ball away from both teammates for a full five minutes. You can do any means of getting your opposition off you just don't let them get that ball." Mirage passed the ball to Lucien. "You start. Training begins now,"

Naruto and Ayame used their combined speed to attack Lucien from the front attacking him head on in a V-shape. Lucien dribbled the ball backwards and ran as fast as he could to avoid the rush. The ball slowed him down significantly and he was caught after about thirty seconds. Naruto got the next shot at the exorcise. He created five kagebunshin as a place to pass the ball off when he would get in trouble. Ayame and Lucien charged Naruto in the same manner that Naruto and Ayame charged him. Naruto wisely passed the ball to a clone on his left, but Lucien saw Naruto's eyes look in that direction and fired a photon at the unsuspecting clone. When the clone got trapped, he switched his spot to that of the clone and intercepted the pass. Ayame took her next turn at the exorcise but was quickly ambushed by a kagebunshin swarm.

_As I thought. Naruto-kun has great lightning potential. His kagebunshin can strike at any moment at any time. Lucien shows decent potential for lightning as well. Ayame's not bad but needs the most work out of the three. I know from her profile though that she too can land a submission attack out of nowhere. She just needs more skills to amplify them. _

"Okay that's enough of that for day one. The next test will show your potential for fire. Fire is like your chakra, wild and free. If fire isn't controlled it will run wild and destroy everything. To pass the test of fire you must climb a tree."

"What! How is climbing a tree training Mirage-sensei?" Naruto asked. Mirage just stood there and focused her chakra into her feet and walked up a tree to the three gennin's amazement. When Mirage saw that she had the gennin's attention she continued her lecture. "You focus your chakra into your feet and simply walk up the tree. " She threw kunai down at the gennin's feet. "Run at the tree to get more momentum and use these to mark your peak."

All three concentrated their chakra to their feet. Naruto broke the huddle first and ran at the tree before he heard Ayame call out his name. "Naruto-kun stop!" Naruto skidded his feet and stopped just short of the tree. Naruto asked Ayame why she made him stop. "Sorry Naruto-kun but you didn't gather enough chakra. You took as long to do it as Mirage did and she's a jonin."

"She's right. You need to stay calm and focus. Concentrate all your chakra and try. You'll have better results." Lucien suggested. All three meditated again and charged at the tree together. Naruto only took about six steps, Lucien got eight steps, and Ayame got ten steps. They tried again and Naruto got eight, Lucien got nine, and Ayame got thirteen.

_A bit shocking here. But nice to see the three work together. Most gennin females can get much higher on the tree because of their low chakra but Ayame seems to have higher reserves and comes from a non-ninja clan. Another oddity. The guys I expected. Naruto-kun doesn't have the focus right now and way too much chakra. Valkyries usually have a ton of chakra as well. I sense that Ayame may pass by the end of tomorrow. The boys may take a few days. Only Ayame has real fire aptitude as of now._

"Stop. Next is wind element of freedom. Wind is wild and free. It never blows the same way twice. In this test, your teammates will have a large supply of pebbles that they will throw at you from a distance of twenty feet. If you get hit even once you fail. Lucien you first."

Naruto and Ayame lined up in position as Mirage unsealed a ton of pebbles from her scroll. Naruto and Ayame fired repetitively and nabbed Lucien right in the thigh after only four throws each. Ayame was next up and lasted six throws because of her flexibility. Naruto surprisingly lasted much longer then the other two gennin. It took Lucien and Ayame twenty throws before they could finally peg him.

_Interesting. Naruto-kun shows incredible aptitude for wind. I guess that has to do with him being able to avoid detection from a young age. Lucien is much too stiff to have aptitude for wind now. That's too much to be expected from him for now though. Ayame seems about average for a first timer. All-in-all pretty decent._

"Good, next is earth. It's strong and tough. Earth is a team test. A team tug-of-war test. To pass you must pull me across the center circle." She unsealed a large rope with a red stripe tied down the center. She then used her heel to create a line in the clearing. She then set the red stripe over the line she just made.

"That's easy. It's three on one sensei. You have no chance!" Naruto jeered.

"Is that a fact Naruto-kun? Well now let's just try it out then shall we?" Mirage responded.

The match was a one sided affair. The thing is that Mirage's one side was doing all the pulling. Putting Ayame at the back as the anchor maybe wasn't such a great idea after all.

_Strength comes time and position. Honestly though as a ninja strength is in most unneeded compared to the others. Yet most people focus solely on getting stronger as opposed to better. They should pass soon enough._

"Well I'd say that settles that. Final test is water. Water flows naturally without getting deterred or distracted. To pass you must mimic my movements perfectly while ignoring any distraction coming your way. That distraction will be created by your teammates. Do what you will and have some fun with it. Naruto-kun why don't you go first."

Mirage started to do various hand seals which Naruto tried to match perfectly. After the third hand seal, he heard Lucien shout out, "Ramen sucks, Dango is better!" Naruto took his eyes off Mirage and glared at Lucien while Mirage told Naruto that he failed the test. Lucien just smirked at Naruto afterwards while Ayame stepped up to the test. As she started copying the seals, Lucien whispered something in Naruto's ear.

"NO I WOULDN'T DO THAT TO AYAME!!" Naruto yelled. Ayame pulled her focus off Mirage and looked at Naruto her face completely flushed red. She glared hard at Lucien in the same manner that Naruto did.

"Just what did you whisper to him Lucien?" Ayame asked trying hard to keep her glare.

"I whispered yell out 'no I wouldn't do anything like that to Ayame.'" Ayame just glared harder at the boy. "What? I simply did whatever it takes to distract you and I did. Don't hate me because I'm good you know."

"Know, I have other reasons." Ayame said. _Oh this is gonna be good. With Naruto and I working together we'll get him good. _Ayame now had a smirk on her face that gave both boys and their sensei scarred.

"Watch how it's done guys." Lucien went up and started copying the seals. Naruto and Ayame began talking loudly but Lucien didn't even budge. They started talking louder but again he was able to ignore it and focus on making hand seals. Naruto then got a devious grin on his face and used the jutsu that no person would possibly ignore. He used his famous transformation jutsu to transform himself into the form that beat Iruka and the hokage. Lucien continued to focus but one could see that he had to try really hard to do so. Ayame got a devious smirk on her face and followed suit. She transformed into a woman age sixteen with long purple hair covering her areas. with Naruto and draped her arm over the female Naruto's. Lucien had enough and forced his face away from the pair of people promptly ending the exorcise.

After Naruto and Ayame reverted back to normal and had a long laugh at Lucien's expense he turned around and glared right back at Naruto and Ayame. Only one phrase could come to Lucien's head. "I'm. Going. To. Kick. Your. Asses."

"What's wrong ya pervert? Can't take it?" Ayame taunted.

"Don't hate us because we're that good Lucien." Naruto jeered. Promptly after the taunting all three teammates shared a good long laugh with each other.

_They're quickly becoming friends. I can see that. Naruto-kun got distracted way too easily. Avoiding distractions is critical for shinobi and he needs to work on that. Ayame can also get distracted easily get distracted as well when Naruto-kun is involved. Lucien shows incredible water aptitude. I guess that comes from harnessing energy from Yggdrasil. I should pass him just because no straight male could take the full force of that combo._

"We'll call that a day. I'll see all of you here promptly at nine in the morning. Till then.

The week passed without much incident. The next day Lucien officially passed the water test by protest. He claimed that Naruto and Ayame's distraction tactics were unfair. Mirage reluctantly agreed. That same day, Ayame passed the fire exorcise, and progressed even further on the wind exorcise. It was the next day when Naruto passed the wind test and the group passed the earth test. Lightning was still the toughest to get down, but the gennin were getting wise to the other's tricks. Day four that week Lucien passed fire, Ayame passed wind, and Naruto passed lightning making it so that the crew could go on official ninja missions.

Team one's first mission was a simple bodyguard mission. The crew was excited about that until they found out what they were guarding, the Konoha Supermarket overnight. Naruto and Ayame took the first shift that night and talked the whole shift.

It was weird for Naruto whenever he talked to Ayame. Any time he spoke with a girl other then her, they'd blow him off or hit him and go off to stalk Sasuke. Ayame wasn't like that though. She would giggle at his jokes, tell him some things that she'd never tell anyone else. And even tell a few jokes of her own. For some odd reason he would rather talk to Ayame more then anyone else, including his crush Sakura.

When their shift was over, they woke up Lucien and their sensei Mirage. The two were much more silent then the previous two. This was due to the fact that not only was there an age gap the size of the hokage monument, but also because both were secretive of their personal lives. Lucien was a joker and tactician, but never let anyone near his personal thoughts. Mirage was simply an enigma. Nobody really knew anything about her. They didn't even know her real name or even if she had a real name. Before much time had passed, their shift was over for the night and they went to collect pay from their first "real" mission.

Unfortunately for team one, the first mission was as close as they got to a real mission that week. Among the most tedious were watching over the academy students while Iruka was sick for a day, walking every dog in the Inuzuka kennel, and picking up trash in the local river. By far though, their least favorite was chasing down the evil cat of the Fire Lord's wife. They caught that cat every single day and the lightest that anybody got off was nine stitches and a case of pink eye. Team one just brought back the cat to the hokage's office where the lady hugged the cat into her ample sized buzom. Naruto, Ayame, and Mirage all had sweat drops and not really feeling sorry that the cat got away. Lucien on the other hand was rubbing his hand manically.

_Yes! Yes! Harder, harder. Squeeze that cat and make it feel so much pain. _Seeing the crazed look in Lucien's eye the rest of the team took a couple of steps away from him.

"Nicely done team one." Sarutobi pulled out a large scroll with a capital D on it. "Now you can weed the gardens of the park, clean the Yamanaka clan house and," Sarutobi heard a shriek of "COME BACK!!" from the Fire Lord's wife. "Recover the lost pet Tora."

"Oh hell no. No possible way will I chase that demon spawn ever again. My sanity depends on it." Lucien said.

"So that leaves weeding,"

"No jiji. With all due respect but I don't want to do any more of these pointless chores." Naruto said.

"HEY!" Iruka shouted. It was a saturday and the academy was out for the day so he helped the hokage spread out the teams. "Ninja missions are assigned to your rank. Fresh gennin get D-ranks. Experienced gennin and new chunin get C-ranks, Experienced chunin and rookie jonin get B-ranks, and so on get the picture."

"And I'm telling you that nidaime would take the other two down. I mean the guy could take water from the sky he was so good." Lucien told Naruto and Ayame.

"No way. Shodaime would take them on and win. He created the village thus he had to be the strongest." Ayame replied.

"And I say you're both wrong, sorry Ayame-neechan. Yondaime could appear from here to there to anywhere in a flash. He would take them all down in an instant." Naruto told the both of them.

"HEY! ARE YOU THREE EVEN LISTENING TO ME!!" Iruka shouted.

"Huh? Gomen Iruka-sensei did you say something?" Naruto, Lucien, and Ayame all said at the same time.

"Part of me is regretting this question. But what were the three of you talking about?" Sarutobi asked.

"It's something that you don't want to get in the middle of. You see a couple days into training Naruto made a reference that he doesn't want to have to go all Yondaime on Lucien in a drill that we run. Lucien responded that Nidaime could kick Yondaime's ass. Then Ayame claimed that the most logical choice for the strongest was the Shodaime. And they've been arguing about it ever since." Mirage stated.

"I was right, I really didn't want to know. I have a question though, why wasn't I considered in the argument?" Sarutobi wondered.

"Thank you! Preaching to the choir!" Mirage yelled. Lucien, Ayame, and Naruto all looked at each other for a few minutes and then answered the man at the same time.

"Cause you're old."

"But he's the only one of the hokage's that's actually alive. I don't know how many times I've told the three of you that." Mirage fired at the students.

"Yeah but if you measure a hokage by the way that they died, then jiji falls short of the other three. I mean honestly what did he do? Seriously? Break a hip in office?" Naruto asked.

"How about training the legendary Sannin? That's something." Mirage offered.

"Yeah about that, where are they again?" Lucien said.

"Besides Sandaime would get wasted by Shodaime."

"Well I agree to that, but still Nidaime would annihilate all of them."

"Talk about people who do nothing, Nidaime only did a bit more then jiji. Think about all Yondaime did."

_I wonder. Do these three even realize that I'm even here right now?_

"Hokage-sama, I apologize for their rudeness in here. I made sure to teach them everything that you did in your tenure so don't feel bad." Iruka consoled. Sarutobi just laughed while them one continued to argue amongst themselves.

"To be honest Iruka, I like this team I really do. Leaf ninja squads are not only meant to be effective units in the field, but they're also supposed to be a tight nit group. These three are a great team with a potential as big as the hokage monument. I think it may be time to see what they can really do." Sarutobi clapped his hands loudly breaking team one up from their less then necessary discussion. Every team member immediately stood up and faced at attention with blushes on each of their faces for getting carried away in front of the hokage no less.

"Okay team one, you've completed thirteen missions successfully in just under five days. I say it's time you displayed your skill as a unit for a C-ranked mission." Team one jumped for joy at getting the mission and the hokage told his personal secretary to bring in Tazuna. Soon after an old man came into the hokage's office smelling of old liquor and smoke. All three genin plugged their noses.

"Humph. This is what I pay for? And who's that short one with the idiotic expression?" Naruto knew that Ayame was significantly taller than him and Lucien was just south of that. An enraged Naruto screamed and ran after Tazuna but Mirage grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Now Naruto-kun no matter what he says, you can't go around attacking and threatening the client." Mirage warned.

"Oh and what do you call that?" Naruto pointed to the scene at the door where Lucien had a kunai pointed at Tazuna's neck from the front, while Ayame had Tazuna in a nerve hold with her thumb sticking in between Tazuna's neck and shoulder. Sarutobi and Iruka were floored at the speed which the two gennin attacked while Mirage tried her absolute hardest to look angry, while on the inside she was proud of her team.

"When you mess with one," Lucien started.

"You mess with three." Ayame finished. Mirage coughed interrupting the two and sending a glare at Ayame. "I mean you mess with four." Ayame finished nervously. Mirage sent her approval at the correction. Lucien pulled his kunai back while Ayame removed her thumb from the pressure point in Tazuna's neck.

"As you've seen already Tazuna-san this team is quite capable of taking on any type of challenge that comes their way. Should anything get by them, I am a jonin that can easily run clean-up duty." Mirage reassured the client.

"Team one, meet at the gates of the village at 7:00AM sharp. bring about two weeks worth of supplies including any training supplies and weapons that you may need."

Team one left the hokage's office, but as they did they ran into Sasuke and Sakura's team. Kakashi, a one-eyed jonin with gray gravity-defying hair and typical jonin garb. Sasuke stood right behind him and was flanked by Sakura and another girl. This girl had long green hair split up into ponytails. She wore a white top that showed off her arms and tanned stomach. The top was covered by a red vest that still showed her mid-section. She also had a matching skirt that reached down to her mid-thigh and a giant scythe attached to her back. It was team seven's mystery teammate Sora.

"Oi snowball, been a while eh mate?" Sora said.

"Yeah too long. How's ya been? I would talk more but between sensei and missions I'm wiped." Lucien responded. Sora just turned her head and made a spitting motion.

"Bloody awful mate. First off, scarecrow-sensei has to be hours late for everything, pinky is certainly not the brain whenever broody isn't around, and D-rank missions suck arse." Sasuke and Sakura cringed at the nicknames that Sora gave them.

"Yeah my teammates hate them too. Meet them, the blond is Uzumaki Naruto. He's pretty cool. He's pretty clever when he wants to be." Naruto stuck his hand out, shook Sora's hand, and greeted her.

"Yeah but what pinky says, he's nothing but a bother. Good thing that I don't take pinky seriously yet. Nice to meet ya whiskers." Naruto looked a bit confused with the whole whiskers deal. Lucien decided to explain it to him.

"Sorry, Sora has a habit of assigning nicknames to the first unique feature that she sees. It means nothing really. Oh and this is my other teammate Ichiraku Ayame. She's really good with submission moves and pressure points. And she's among three gennin in the class to not worship the ground Sasuke walks on. I bet she could even give you a run Sora."

Sora walked up to Ayame and looked her up and down as if sizing her up. She walked around Ayame scanning for her muscle structure or pamper signs. Ayame looked a bit nervous under Sora's heavy gaze. After making a full circle around Ayame Sora looked Ayame in the eyes and smiled. "Strong yet quick. Agile and confident. You are indeed a true kunoichi. Nice to meet ya." Both girls shook hands while Sasuke and Sakura made their presence known.

"So just what are you guys doing here anyway? Getting a mission?" Sasuke asked.

"Well the three of us were just here wanting permit to build a casino for the brooding and moody." Lucien sarcastically said. Sasuke and Sakura weren't as amused as the other three gennin. "Of course we just got a mission C-ranked too." Team seven was shocked that team one got a C-ranked mission. Sora was happy for them but still angry because she wanted to do them again.

"What? You got a C-rank. If anyone should get a C-rank it should be us." Sasuke said.

"Yeah. We have the top gennin from this year, a top kunoichi from last year, and myself, the smartest gennin in the class. Meanwhile you got the blond cheater, the amazon, and a guy with a hair color that can't be natural. We deserve it."

Some things that people do or say are usually put on a list of things to never do. For example, it's never wise to play with a bear cub in front of its mother. One should also never put their head in a crocodile's mouth. Another on the list is that one should never call Ayame an amazon. Naruto had to quickly intercept Ayame before she would charge Sakura like a rhino.

"How many missions have you guys done anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"Twelve." Ayame responded.

"That's it. Only twelve. We've done three times as many as that. It looks like the better team is clear now." Sakura added.

"Yes and how long have you trained?" Lucien countered.

"An hour before and after missions. We would do more but Kakashi-sensei is never on time." Sasuke answered.

"Only two hours a day? That's weak teme. We trained for nearly a week before we could even take missions. Plus we double your daily routine and that makes us stronger and better." Naruto said. Releasing Ayame who had at this point calmed down.

"Oi everyone take it easy. Fact is snowball probably got a higher mission because they asked for it and they work like an actual team. You can see it in their faces and interaction, they all trust each other completely. We don't. C-ranked missions involve actual combat situations where one lapse in judgment or fear could cost your life. Even bandits are not the weaklings they're out to be. Sasuke, ask for the mission, if we get it we're ready, if not we're not. That's for the hokage to decide. He's certainly old enough to make a smart decision." Sora told the team completely serious and devoid of her accent.

When team one went to leave the hallway, Lucien went back to Sora. "Hey Sora, can I ask you something?"

"Sure whatcha need snowball?"

"If every past and current hokage fought each other in a battle royal, who would win?"

"Obviously the Shodaime. Why?" Ayame let out a loud 'ha' and 'told you so' in the background.

"No Sora. It's the Sandaime. He knows the most amount of jutsu." Sasuke responded much to the delight of Mirage.

"With all due respect Sasuke-kun, it's the Yondaime. Who else could kill the Kyuubi?" Naruto, Ayame, and Mirage suddenly changed expression. Instead of their playful and nice expression, changed to a look of depression and pity. Ayame put her arm around Naruto and he leaned against her shoulder. An act that didn't go unnoticed by Lucien.

_Odd. Before when Naruto bragged that Yondaime was the best kage, he never mentioned the Kyuubi incident, Ayame never even mentioned it either. The mention of the demon sends both of them into a small bit of depression. It's like taboo but why? Some thing's not right here, but I'll leave them to explain it. At least until they figure out about my real power. _

Team one left for the night and team seven went into the briefing room. They told them that their mission of cleaning the Fukashima Forge was a complete success. Sarutobi then followed by asking if team seven wanted to do another mission for the night or turn in.

"Hokage-sama, may I ask a question?" Sasuke asked the old man.

"Sure Uchiha-san. What would you like to ask?"

"Is it true that team one from our class also got a C-ranked mission?"

"Yes they did."

"Then I'd like to ask for the same thing. I want a C-ranked mission."

"I'm sorry Uchiha-san, but I don't know if you're ready. Kakashi-sensei, what do you think about this?" The jonin just scratched his head.

"In terms of skill they're more then ready to deal with it. However, as a team they lack cohesiveness, I feel though that with Sora's leadership and my supervision we could probably test ourselves with a C-rank. That is if my team agrees to one." Team seven cheered with joy as they didn't want another D-rank.

"Alright then. Your mission is a C-rank and you leave tomorrow night. A group of bandits has been terrorizing a town close to Fire Country. You're mission is to scout this band and don't engage them. We have no info about how strong they are so don't fight unless confronted. Dismissed."

After the team left the office, Kakashi addressed his team. "Okay we leave tomorrow. Bring whatever you think you're gonna need. Be at the gates tomorrow at ten on the button. Oh and I say Nidaime would win. Ja." Kakashi said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Before they left the tower Sasuke spoke up to his two teammates about his displeasure in the mission. "Only scouting the enemy. What a joke. No bandit could ever beat an Uchiha. We could wipe them out no problem but we can only scout them."

"Broody, many nuke-nins have settled down into jobs as a bandit. Some of them are even strong enough to beat Kakashi-sensei in a fight. Fighting an unknown enemy is a tactical misjudgment. My team got killed on a mission similar to this."

"If I can't beat bandits I'll never be able to kill him. I know that you have reservations and are worried, but don't worry I'm tougher then any of your last weak teammates." Sora stopped walking and stopped everything. Her face was blank and devoid of any emotion. Even Sakura was quick to double-take and wonder why Sasuke would say something so horrible and stupid. Sora's blank look quickly turned from shock to absolute rage. A rage that quickly was turned against Sasuke.

Sora reached out and grabbed Sasuke by the collar and threw him against the wall. "Now you listen and you listen good. Any mission C-rank or above is ranked that way because death is a possibility. You always tell us that you need to kill someone and to do that you feel that you need to be strong and feel that you are strong I get that. What you do though is put yurself on a golden pedistal while suck everyone else in a bloody trench. If you ever, EVER, insult my past team again, or take shots at my friends, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, or any Konoha shinobi or civilian again, I'll rip ur eyes out and your precious blood will be useless. Got it?"

Sasuke struggled to breath against Sora's grip and tried kicking her to show his displeasure. Sora let him down reluctantly and just walked away, tears of anger and rage dripping down her cheeks. Sakura immediately went to check on Sasuke but he shoved her away and walked back to his clan house in silence.

_Sora just threatened Sasuke-kun and I did nothing to stop it. I mean he may have had that coming to him for what he said but Sora took it too far._

_**HEY. Sasuke-kun went way over the edge. If someone talked in that manner about your best friends, regardless of who they are, how would you react?**_

_But if I think badly of Sasuke-kun, it means that he'll never be mine. I always have to think that he's right if I want him. I mean Ino and everyone else does, so I have to._

_**Did you ever think that maybe that's why he pushes them away and is attracted to Ayame? Sasuke-kun is great and everything that we want, but true love and complete submission are different.**_

_How?_

_**Figure it out yourself. **_

...

As much as I hate being cliché, I had to have Sakura and her inner argue thus the last scene. Sakura will change and grow in the fic and I plan to show that.

Yes I referenced that Sasuke liked Ayame but there won't be any moments with the two but I believe that Sasuke would only be attracted to a girl not afraid to put him in his place and not a fan girl. I have decided what I'm going to do with Sasuke and that will be revealed later.

More mystery to the enigma that is Mirage. I'll leave that open.

I have decided on Lucien's pair and it will be ...

announced next chapter.

Lucien began to piece together part about Kyuubi and Naruto even from a pointless discussion. I used that discussion to illustrate a) the dynamic of team one, b) to give Lucien a hint, and c) because I found it hilarious.

Thank you for reading.

Please review.


	4. New Threat, the Demon Brothers

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 4- New Threat, Demon Brothers Gouzu and Meizu

Here's chapter 4 on the right now. Wow after day one I doubled my reviews with chapter 3, and passed the 1K hits mark. Thanks to all who reviewed. Now let me respond to what you guys said.

Tailedfox: I know. I like Ayame as a possible pair but the only time she is paired is in a harem. I figured that things could easily make it so that Naruto is paired with her.

Bandgsecurityaw and Kuro Yukie: Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.

DeExil: Thanks really didn't catch that one. That's another reason why I need a beta..

Alone shadow dream: Yeah we see a bit of team seven interaction. Sora is dissatisfied with the actions of Sasuke and a bit disappointed with Sakura. Whether it changes or not time will tell.

Blitzfury: Lenneth is a bit old for the Lucien I created. I know you're frustrated with the lack of VP characters, but hang in there. Before the end of Wave Lenneth will make an appearance. Most of the VP stuff though will be part 2 though, but I'll put a bit of VP here as sort of a teaser. I will also explain my take on the VP:s ending though by the end of part 1.

As previously mentioned this will be a two part story. Part 1 is going to deal a lot with developing the characters, opening conflicts, and that sort of thing. Part 2 will deal with Akatsuki and their role and plans. Part 3 is a surprise, but I'll get into detail with that at the end of part 1.

I hope that you like my personal take on the fight in this chapter. Enjoy.

...

Dawn had already broken in Konohagure. Birds had long since broken their slumber and the village had already begun taking on their normal routine. Ninja had already done a brisk morning run and one team was getting ready to undertake in their first real ninja mission. All three had packs for all the supplies that they'd need for their trip to Wave, Tazuna's village. The ninja themselves were engrossed in their discussion of the strongest hokage that Konoha ever had, while Tazuna was taking a sip of sake. Mirage had yet to show herself and it was 6:59.

"Hey, when is your leader gonna be here? We have to leave in just over a minute." Tazuna griped. The three ninja didn't even bother turning around from the inside of their triangle.

"Don't worry Mirage-sensei is never late. She always shows up right at the appointed time." Lucien said.

"Never early, never late. It's always the same." Ayame said. Right as soon as Ayame finished her sentence, seven struck the clocks and Mirage appeared right on time as usual. _It's so freaky how she does that._

Team one left the gates of Konoha and began traveling down the road to the village of Waves. Naruto and Ayame were casually chatting with each other, while Lucien was scanning for threats on the path. Mirage though had a bad feeling about this mission.

"Tazuna-san, what kind of country is Wave anyway? I've heard that it was a fine area for sake and fishing but other then that it's a blank." Lucien started. Naruto and Ayame stopped their chat to listen to Tazuna's explanation. Tazuna looked up at the sky and wiped sweat off his brow before answering.

"We're a calm, peaceful village. We have small numbers and the whole community is really together. Everyone knows everyone." Tazuna explained. "Besides, what kind of ninja has no intel on the country that their client is from? You really should know this stuff runt."

"And you shouldn't drink sake at ten in the morning." Naruto quipped.

"I'll drink what I want, when I want brat. And nothing that you say can stop that." Tazuna responded.

"Yeah well when I become hokage, I'll make it so nobody can drink before noon. Then you have to listen to me and respect me."

"Even if that happened, which it won't brat, I still wouldn't listen. I don't take shit from brats simply because of their power and position. If you want my respect, then earn it by yourself and not your power." Naruto didn't know how to respond to this one. He simply grunted and turned away, even though his head was going through loops over Tazuna's words.

_He looks like a drunk, but he has the wisdom to not only build a bridge, but is knowledgeable and wise. Although the way he easily deflected Lucien's question and why he deflected the question leaves him untrustworthy. He's hiding something, something big._

During the argument team one passed by a puddle. Tazuna and Naruto passed it off as nothing, but the other three suspected something. Lucien looked Ayame in eye with a serious look in his face. Ayame nodded, and slid a kunai from her sleeve to her hand. Naruto, who missed the puddle, didn't miss what Ayame did, and followed suit.

After a few seconds, two masked chunin with Kiri headbands on. They also wore large gauntlets and held a chain between them. They swung the chain around Mirage and pulled hard making different body parts scatter all over the place. Tazuna was shocked outside of his wits and backed up, his face pale as an albino.

"One down," said one of the ninja. Team one ran their minds trying to think of who these two were, but bingo book information was rarely given to gennin, so they figured that they had to make do with all they had, each other.

Ayame threw her kunai at the chain sticking it to a tree when the brothers split up and made a beeline for Tazuna. Ayame slid into a position right in front of the builder. Naruto froze. He saw that Ayame was going to die because he was too slow to react. It all happened too quickly and now the one person who understood everything about him was going to die.

Flashes from the Mizuki incident came into his mind when he saw this. Memories of her cut and bleeding, her consciousness slipping away from her when he thought that she might die. Die for nearly the second time because of his stupidity and he couldn't do anything but freeze. Before the ninja struck Ayame was suddenly trapped in a crystal. A crystal that could only be fired by Lucien.

Milliseconds later, Ayame disappeared and Lucien stood in her place and executed a leg sweep of the first masked ninja stopping him in his tracks. Before he hit the ground Lucien hit his with another kick in the ribs. That event caused both ninja to back off their pursuit of Tazuna for a second to regroup.

"Hey Naruto, snap out of it!" Lucien ordered. Naruto was shaken from his trance and looked to see Ayame trapped in a crystal where Lucien was standing. "If you hit the crystal, she'll go back to normal. GO!"

Naruto did as he was told and broke Ayame from her prison. Ayame gave Naruto a quick hug before guarding Tazuna again with Lucien.

"Brother, it would seem that these gennin have tricks." One of them said.

"Yes Gouzu, be wary of the white one. He's not like the other two. His chakra is strange," the other ninja responded.

Meanwhile team one was trying to formulate a plan for taking on these two ninja while protecting the client. Lucien spoke up with a plan. "These ninja are unknown and it's three against two. If you guys can buy me some time, say a minute, I can take one of them out. After that I'll be done for this battle and you'll have to take the other one out. Naruto, you okay to fight?"

"Yeah. I won't freeze up again. Don't worry we'll buy you that time that you need, right Ayame-neechan." Naruto said.

"Yeah. Let's get em."

The team split up into an inverted triangle formation with Naruto and Ayame taking point with Lucien in the back charging up his chakra.

"Meizu, it looks like to get to the builder, we need to take out these trash ninja." Gouzu said.

Meizu and Gouzu rushed ahead with their gauntlets drawn to take on then gennin. Naruto created nineteen kagebunshin and made nine of them look like Ayame. He took his bunshin and isolated Meizu while Ayame and her lookalikes took on Gouzu.

Meizu went straight after Naruto with his gauntlet drawn and made one fast quick swipe at Naruto, which he barely escaped from. He then had his clones try to attack the Kiri ninja from both sides, but a spin attack with his gauntlet made both of the clones disappear. He then made some hand signs and sent a stream of water at two more clones from each hand taking them out. Naruto took this time to attack the legs of the ninja, but the attack was easily avoided when the ninja jumped into the air. In an attempt to take the ninja down, Naruto and his remaining clones launched a barrage of kunai at the airborne target. Unfortunately for Naruto, he used his superior agility and power to catch the kunai and throw them back at the boy disabling two more clones. Naruto was down to three clones and getting seriously outclassed by the older shinobi.

Ayame knew that she was in trouble. She didn't quite know what the claws were made of, but there was a good chance that they were poisoned. That took away all of her submission moves, so she was left to fight with alternative means until the time passed and Lucien could do whatever he was going to do. Gouzu gave her no time to prepare a strike and rushed her quickly. Two of the clones that Naruto left for attacked him from the front and sides in a V shape. Gouzu attacked the left one making it disappear, and then stopped and redirected himself at the other clone. When he hit the second clone, Ayame struck right at Gouzu with a kunai drawn and aimed for the heart. She attacked so suddenly, that Gouzu couldn't dodge the attack, but brought up his left gauntlet to block the incoming attack. Ayame's kunai pierced the metal of the gauntlet and it shattered and fell to the ground. Gouzu was unable to retract his arm to prevent damage being done to his arm and his hand was sliced badly preventing use.

In a rage Gouzu did some rapid hand seals and a ball of water surrounded him before it burst suddenly dispatching all of Ayame's clones and knocking the girl back. Gouzu wasn't finished though and swung his right arm at Ayame in an attempt to kill her. Seizing the opportunity, Ayame wrapped her legs around Gouzu's left arm, wrapped her arms around his neck in a reverse grip, and pulled hard on his head making his growl and groan in agony. Ayame knew that with her inferior size and power to the ninja that she couldn't keep the hold on for long, but she knew that she could hold it long enough for Lucien to finish generating his chakra.

Naruto created more clones to stall for time, but it wasn't doing well. For every clone that he created Miezu was able to dispatch them just as quickly as they were created and a stalemate was easily reached. They had been battling fiercely for a just under a minute, and Naruto was quickly running out of options and chakra. He sent another wave of clones after Meizu but he again dispatched them with ease. Meizu for his part was not having it as easy as he'd hoped against the blond. It was taking much too long for his liking. Just as soon as he dispatched the rest of Naruto's clones, he heard Lucien scream at him.

"NARUTO MOVE!" Lucien then released a huge wave of chakra that made everybody look at him in shock. His eyes had changed from a heavy yellow, to a fierce pearl. A cloud of white chakra surrounded him as well. He shouted out to Meizu, "It shall be engraved upon your soul." Lucien then ran at the ninja like he was shot out of a cannon, and all the ninja could do was watch. He attacked with a punch arcing down at Meizu's head and connected. His next attack was a kick angled at forty-five degrees and hit Meizu in the ribs. His next attack was a straight punch aimed at the sternum and then finished the combo up with a back-flip kicking Meizu into the air. Lucien quickly aimed a photon at the ninja and ran right underneath him aiming another photon up at the shinobi. After they switched places Lucien screamed out "NIBLEUNG VALESTI," and aimed a punch right down at the ninja. The punch went right through the crystal and Miezu's chest killing him instantly. Lucien removed his bloody hand from the shinobi's body and dropped sown to one knee. He then slid over to a tree and sat his back against it barely being conscious. _I did my part. Finish it you two._

"MEIZU!" Gouzu shouted. Gouzu now enraged threw Ayame off and she landed with a thud against a tree. Gouzu then ran directly at Lucien who was unable to defend himself. Before he could get close, Naruto tried to kick Gouzu in the ribs. Gouzu caught the kick and threw Naruto away right leaving Lucien completely unprotected. Naruto and Ayame could only watch in horror as Gouzu took his only hand that was working and shoved it towards Lucien. In a last ditch effort, Lucien dove to the left at the final second, making Gouzu's hand pass through the tree. Gouzu grunted and pulled his hand from the tree, before engaging the defenseless gennin again.

Just before Gouzu could pierce Lucien's heart, Naruto intercepted the gauntlet the only way he possibly could. He caught the punch with his hand and the gauntlet tore into his hand. With a grunt of pain Naruto held him in place. Gouzu then used his bloody right hand to try to punch Naruto out of the way, which Naruto caught again. Naruto knew that he couldn't last long at all in this position. He was already losing the leverage and power battle against the nuke-nin.

It was only a matter of time before Gouzu was able to throw Naruto off him and launch him halfway across the clearing. He raised his gauntlet again to crush into Lucien's chest. Just before he was able to make his arm crush through the boy, killing him, he felt something unique. He felt the cold metal of a kunai ripping through his chest cavity, with a cut up and tired Ayame on the other end. Gouzu fell helplessly to the ground dead. Ayame had made her first kill ever and the gennin had overcome their adversary, but not without cost.

Tazuna looked at the gennin each with a new respect. He now saw the pure power and desperation shown by Lucien, the will to protect his comrades shown by Naruto, and the ability to take the life of a superior ninja shown by Ayame. Soon after this, Mirage dropped down into the clearing surveying the carnage.

Lucien was passed out on the ground, from which she assumed was chakra exhaustion. Naruto's hand was busted up and, she assumed poisoned, while Ayame was covered in scrapes, bruises, and shocked at the fact that she just killed a ninja and ended their life. Meizu, the first of the ninja, had a large hole in his chest from Lucien's attack, and Gouzu had numerous wounds on his left arm had been severely damaged and his back had a deep gash that ended his life.

It was Naruto who first noticed that Mirage was alive and in the clearing. "Mirage-sensei, you're alive! But how? We saw you die."

Hearing this proclamation by Naruto shook Ayame out of her stupor. It was amazing that they survived such an encounter without their sensei.

"Yes Naruto-kun I'm alive. I used a kawarmi to get away. I was about to enter the fight when I sensed another presence here. It was a carefully disguised presence which only the top levels of jonin and ANBU. I figured that it was a hunter-nin but that made no sense because if it was a hunter,"

"He would have entered the fight himself and taken out these ninja for his village." Ayame finished, still a little shaken up from her first kill.

"Exactly. By the way, do the two of you know who these ninja are?" Mirage asked.

"No sensei. Bingo book information is severely limited for any gennin. It would have helped us to have information on these two before we engaged them though." Naruto said. Mirage just sighed at this declaration.

"These two are C-ranked missing ninja from Kirigakure named the Demon Brothers. They're both chunin level shinobi famous for their relentless assault. You know, we can claim the bounty on their heads from Kiri if we give them their gauntlets. They will be pleased to hear this. Also famous for poisoning their gauntlets." Mirage and Ayame now looked right at Naruto, or more specifically, his right hand. Naruto also looked down at his hand.

"So what can we do about it sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well we have three choices of action. Choice 1, we abandon this mission and go back to get you patched up. As your sensei I would suggest this option because SOMEBODY," Mirage looked directly at a bleaching Tazuna, "gave us inaccurate intel and stronger enemies will be upon us soon."

"No you can't leave. You absolutely can't leave. If you do, my people will die." Tazuna shouted out.

"Then I suggest you tell us your story now!" Mirage shouted.

"Okay okay. Wave country is currently under the hands of Gato."

"The merchant? How is a merchant in charge of a nation?" Ayame asked.

"He hired an army of thieves, thugs, and ninja to protect himself. He looted our boats and destroyed our harbors so we have no choice but to submit to his power. We're a dirt poor nation far below the standard of living. That's why your gennin haven't really heard of it. It's also the reason why I posted for a C-rank. It's all that we could afford. Please don't leave." Tazuna cried out.

"Well you two, what do you think? I'd ask Lucien too but I don't think that he can answer right now." Mirage asked Naruto and Ayame.

Naruto looked at Ayame, who then looked back at Naruto. Both of them knew each other to the point to where they didn't even have to ask about something like this. "Sensei, what other ways could Naruto-kun purge the poison from his body?" Ayame asked. Mirage smiled at her team as they knew and understood the chances, but put them aside to help people out. The way that her village raised shinobi.

"Choice 2, is to try to get Naruto-kun to have his system purge out the poison naturally. Now this stipulation would be the most dangerous in most cases but I think that you both know that Naruto-kun is not most cases." Naruto and Ayame shot a fast look at the still passed out Lucien. They, but mostly Naruto, was afraid of how Lucien would react if he knew about Kyuubi. "I doubt that he can hear us. He's out for the count right now."

"Even so, how can we be sure that it will work to purge out the poison. All factors involved, I'd say that that situation as well is much too risky. Any other options sensei?" Naruto asked. Mirage sighed.

"Choice 3 would be to force the poison out through your blood. We'd have to be quick about this though because," Naruto interrupted his sensei when he took a kunai and dug it into his open hand wound and bled on the ground.

"Ayame-neechan, and Lucien both nearly died today. When I nearly saw Ayame-neechan nearly die, it killed me myself. I swear, on the pain of my hand, that none of my friends will ever get hurt again while I still breathe. That is my oath, an oath of pain."

Ayame looked at Naruto with tears in her eyes after his proclamation. He made swore that he would protect her with his life if necessary. She knew that she cared more about him then anything, but did this mean that he felt the same way about her? She started blushing just thinking about it.

"Okay, choice decided. Naruto-kun, let's see what I can do about this hand shall we?" Mirage surrounded her hands with a gentle green glow and closed the wound on Naruto's hand much faster then she expected.

_Odd. It should have taken twice as long to get that wound patched up. It must be the work of Kyuubi. At last that overgrown pile of fur did something useful for Naruto-kun._

After she finished patching up Naruto's hand she turned to look at Ayame's injuries that she sustained in the fight. She looked over the injuries carefully and deduced that none of them had the look of damage done by the gauntlet and none of her injuries showed any signs of being anything other then a surface wound. Ayame would easily be alright from an injury point of view. She wanted to be sure though and ran a diagnostic on her to check and she came out clean. She went over to the passed out Lucien, strapped him out on her back, and placed him near the rest of the group. As with Ayame, she ran a diagnostic on Lucien and like Ayame he came out completely clean.

"Alright, we're all fine here. From here on out it's going to get tougher. Ideally, we'd want to proceed as quickly as possible, but with our dead-weight over here," Mirage said pointing the unconscious gennin. Naruto and Ayame had a quick laugh at that. "I say we travel for a bit longer and make camp. If we leave bright and early, we should make it to Tazuna-san's boat." Mirage hoisted Lucien on her back again and began to carry him away from the battleground. Naruto, Ayame, and Tazuna followed suit.

"You know, we can claim the bounty on their heads from Kiri if we give them their gauntlets. They will be pleased to hear this." Mirage said as she picked the still working gauntlet off Gouzu, and both gauntlets from Meizu. She then placed them into a storage scroll.

"But sensei, should we really turn these in for money?" Naruto asked.

"Well technically yes, though there are many reasons to claim a bounty on a nuke-nin. Firstly, their name gets taken off of the bingo book, secondly, our relations with Kiri will improve. Finally, people start to remember your name. How many gennins have killed nuke-nin before?" Mirage said as she hoisted Lucien on her back again and began to carry him away from the battleground. Naruto, Ayame, and Tazuna followed suit.

Naruto and Ayame traveled in silence for most of the way and Naruto could tell that something was bothering Ayame. She never was this silent for this long unless something was troubling her big time. "Ayame-neechan, what's the matter? You seem kinda down."

"I killed him. That enemy ninja, I killed him." Ayame said, shaken up. The emotion from seeing Mirage alive and battle was now waring off and it gave Ayame time to really think about what she had done, kill a ninja in cold blood. Naruto put his arm around Ayame to comfort her and she cried into his shoulder. He reached around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You did what you had to do Ayame-neechan. If you didn't kill him, then Lucien would have been killed. You did the right thing." Naruto whispered in her ear. He remembered the words spoken to him when he killed Mizuki.

"Maybe but, could anything else have been done about it? I mean did I really have to kill him? Maybe something else could have been done? Am I a killer now?" Ayame sobbed.

"No, a killer is someone who kills for the fun of it or for revenge. A shinobi is one who kills not because he likes to, but because he has to. You know what separates you from a killer Ayame-neechan?"

"What Naruto-kun?"

"A killer wouldn't feel anything. The fact that you feel bad about what you did proves that you're not a monster but a human complete with emotions. That's what I like about you neechan."

Ayame felt her eyes water again at these words from the boy. She knew that he was right about this. After all, it was the same thing that he went through when he killed Mizuki recently and she didn't think of him like a monster at all. She pulled her head away from Naruto's shoulder and looked him right in the eyes. Naruto matched her gaze and slowly their heads moved together. Ayame and Naruto closed their eyes and went in for the kiss.

"Oh I don't want to see that." Lucien said, waking up from his bed on Mirage's back. Quickly Naruto and Ayame pulled away and turned away from each other, with their faces were as red as a radish. Mirage and Tazuna quickly laughed so hard that they could barely stand and their ribs ached. Mirage laughed so hard that she dropped Lucien with a thud on the ground.

"When did YOU wake up anyway?" Naruto yelled.

"Just a few moments ago. Long enough to watch you and Ayame begin to trade saliva. Do you always do that while I'm not around?" Lucien jeered.

"Well blondy, I must say I'm proud. This girl will do well for ya. She can tolerate your personality which is more then I can say for myself. Good job." Tazuna said.

"It's not like that. We're friends." Naruto said waving his arms in front of his face.

"Y-yeah. Naruto just had, uh, something on his face. That's it." Ayame giggled nervously.

"I see. And you wanted to wipe in of with your own saliva and happened to miss and hit his mouth?" Lucien sarcastically said.

"Well I say we make camp here for tonight. I would say that Naruto-kun and Ayame share a shift like last time, but I don't think that they'll be able to even take their eyes off each other enough to watch for threats." Mirage said. Lucien and Tazuna laughed again so hard that their ribs felt like they were about to burst, while a red Naruto and Ayame plotted the downfall of their teammate, sensei, and client.

Meanwhile, a woman with long silver hair, tied into a braid after her middle back examined the carnage from the fight with the Demon Brothers. She wore an intricate blue armor that ended just below her biceps and hand blue guards for her wrists and hands. A white skirt started after the chest armor and extended the full length of her legs. She kept a sword at her left side and wore a helmet that didn't cover the top of her head and had large feathers coming out the back of it.

_Hmmm this is odd. A massive fight definitely took place here. This is also the same place where I felt that energy, the energy of Yggdrasil forming with the energy produced mainly by humans. The question is though, who did this? Only a Valkyrie has the ability to do that though and two Valkyries can't be on Midgard at the same time. Plus I know that Hrist is back at Valhalla, Silmeria is doing I don't even want to know what with Brahms, Alicia is by her husband's side along with Freya, and I'm here. What does this mean? I need to investigate this after I bury these bodies. I will figure out what's going on here._

**...**

Told ya Lenneth would appear in the Wave arc. Wow this chapter really flew for me. I'm pretty happy with my first ever fight scene. Most fics make the Demon Brothers out to be weaklings but I never saw that as the case. I felt that they are fearful and strong in their own right.

Before some say that Lucien is far too strong from what happened, keep this in mind. Lucien needed a lot of time before he executed Nibelung Valesti. Time that in a 1-1 fight he wouldn't get. Also he completely passed out from all the chakra used to try to keep them all relatively.

The submission move that Ayame used in this chapter was another move owned by WWE that a friend sent me called "Crossface." Again WWE owns that move.

For those who wanted Naruto and Ayame to finish the kiss, sorry. What happened was a spur of the moment thing that won't happen for a while yet. However will that stop the teasing? HECK NO. I'm going to have so much fun with the teasing. Don't worry though, Lucien will get his when his pair is revealed to the group.

Speaking of which I am going ahead and naming Lucien's pair, in this fic, TAYUYA!! YAY! Ok enough of that. I had this really planned from the beginning. Believe it or not, she will be a very important character and not only for the pairing option. She'll be very key in a ton of spots and not just because I feel that Lucien needs a girl. If y'all have complaints about it, tell me and there's a SMALL chance that I'll reverse this. But trust me on this one, you won't be disappointed with what I do with the redhead.

Next Chapter Title: Mirage vs Zabuza, Clash of the Titans

Estimated release: Saturday August 9

I've also decided Lenneth's pairing but I'll keep that under wraps for now.

Thank you for reading Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Please review.


	5. Mirage vs Zabuza

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 5- Mirage vs. Zabuza

Welcome to Chapter 5. Thanks to all who read and reviewed the previous chapters. I'm at nearly 2K hits and that rocks. Also last chapter gave me seven reviews, a new record. I'll start with the usual reviewing the reviews. Wait, what?

Mc2000, joseph33795, bandsecurityg, and Leonspirit: Hey thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it.

Blitzfury: All will be explained in time. I'm positive that you won't be disappointed.

Ichitatsu forever: Don't worry bro, people who don't finish fics anger me big time. I never start something without intending to finish. Glad that you like the story that much though.

DeExil: Thanks. I wasn't sure myself about the fluff though. It was my first fluff try but I think that I'm happy. I'm glad you liked the fight, I hope that this one is as good if not better.

In this fight, I'll be using jutsu for the first time. I'm actually going to use the English equivalent for several reasons. 1) Looking up the names takes a lot of work. 2) Using footnotes takes away from the reading experience of reading the story. 3) I want every person reading this to understand what I'm writing without having to scroll down.

Let's get rolling with Chapter 5.

...

Night had fallen on the camp of the group and Tazuna, Mirage, and Ayame were fast asleep letting Naruto and the sore Lucien guarding the camp. So far in the shift, the silver child had yet to torment Naruto about his incident with Ayame, but Naruto really didn't mind that.

"You know, I never said this before, but that jutsu that you used before was amazing. Is there anyway that you could teach me?" Naruto asked. Lucien grunted and forced himself to sit up.

"No I can't. What Nibelung Valesti does is absorbs a large amount of energy from Yggdrasil and merges it with my chakra. The result of the release gives me a short burst of strength and speed. Without my bloodline though, one can't get the release of Yggdrasil needed to satisfy the jutsu." Lucien explained.

"Yeah, it's quite the trump card. Though I'm wondering, if it's a one-shot deal, and it takes so much energy to use, maybe it would be best if you didn't you it too much."

Lucien just chuckled at the comment. "As my chakra grows, as does my capacity to store energy from Yggdrasil. By age fifteen I should be able to use that version of it, and the true version of the attack."

"True version? That wasn't the true version?"

"Nope. The true version is much scarier and more powerful then that. However, I don't have near enough chakra or Yggdrasil capacity to even come close to executing that kind of power. Though I am working on a part of it. You'll have to wait to see what it is though." Lucien smirked at that last part before leaving the air in silence. It was over an hour in silence before Lucien picked up the conversation on a topic that threw Naruto for a loop.

"So what made you decide to give up on Sakura anyway?"

Naruto sputtered. He clearly wasn't expecting something like that ever to come from Lucien's mouth. "W-what do you mean give up on Sakura-chan? Why do you keep saying that I'm in love with Ayame-neechan anyway?" Lucien's face shifted again from his usual joking face to the serious face. Naruto knew that teasing wasn't coming, but the kind of advice only a close friend could give.

"Because in the academy, I saw the look on your face when you saw Sakura. It was odd though, like the look on your face when you try to master a jutsu. Almost like you like the thrill of the chase more then the actual prize. Ayame though gets a different look."

"What do you mean different look? What are you talking about anyway?"

"Ayame, you look at her like you really want something. Whenever she's close you smile more and do better. Like a new bowl of ramen."

"So are you saying that the only reason that I like Sakura-chan because I think that I'll never get her? Well that's wrong. I have better reasons then that." It was then that Lucien made the biggest mistake that he could ever do. A mistake that if he was asked to do again, he sooner be stuck in interrogation for a year.

"Tell me then. Tell me why you like Sakura?"

Naruto sat in thought for a few moments, trying to think of everything great and wonderful that he knew about Sakura. "Well she's smart, and beautiful. She's strong and determined. And she never gives up when faced with an impossible task. She's like me you know. I guess that's the attraction."

"So you like her because she's strong, beautiful, smart, determined, and impossible. Interesting." Lucien should have stopped here. But he just had to ask the next question. "What do you like about Ayame?"

For the next hour Lucien was bombarded with everything good and sweet about Ayame. Every story, every time when he was on a bad spot and she helped him out. Every single one of her likes, dislikes, and habits, including the fact that she could never eat an odd number of dango sticks in one sitting. Before he went completely insane, he stopped Naruto before he could go any farther.

"I think I made my point." Lucien said as he stretched from his current spot. Naruto help him up and take him to where his tent was, because he could still barely walk. Before he went to sleep, Lucien had one message to give Naruto. "Think about it for a while. Night."

After Lucien went to sleep, Naruto's mind rages with thoughts running from here to there. _Do I like Ayame-neechan more than Sakura-chan? I mean, Ayame-neechan has already been there for me my whole life. I wonder what would Sakura-chan do if she found out about Kyuubi. It's all so much. I'll just wait until we get back to Konoha before anything I guess._

The next day the group continued to travel down the road to Wave country. Mirage led the way and the group had a delta formation around Tazuna. During the travel, the silence was awkward between Naruto and Ayame. Both of them barely looking at each other and hardly talking. Yet with what had happened the previous day, all team members were fine with it. By midday, the group had made it to Tazuna's boat and began to travel down the sea and into Wave.

The sky was foggy over the sea giving the group easy access to Wave without being caught by anybody. Yet the group was able to catch a sight of the incomplete bridge and were astounded by it's immense size and stature.

"It's soooo huge! You're building this?" Naruto said a bit too loudly for anyone else's taste.

"Naruto-kun, you need to be quiet. We're sneaking in here." Mirage added.

"Yes that is our one last chance of hope. With the bridge we will finally be able to get rid of the tyranny if Gato once and for all." Tazuna said.

"No you won't." Lucien said.

"What do you mean? That bridge will connect us to the rest of the world and Gato won't be able to keep his strangle hold on us anymore." Tazuna argued.

"Actually I think that Lucien's right on this one. If Gato had all the money that you say he does, and we witnessed the the Demon Brothers, then what's stopping him from simply doing to the bridge what he does with your ports? The reason Gato wants you gone, is so he doesn't have to spend any more money then he has to." Ayame speculated.

"So you say that it's hopeless then?" Tazuna said dropping his head.

"Not at all old man." Naruto exclaimed. "Dealing with a punk like Gato is simple. Get the group together and pulverize him. Despite all his money, he can't rule it if the take the fight to him. See? Simple."

"It's not that simple. You know nothing about Wave. Any hope we had was dashed when our hero died. He saved many people and fought Gato to the bitter end. In the end he was killed." Tazuna replied.

"And what did you and the rest of the people do? Watch? Let him die when you could have done something, anything to stop it? Of course he died. The reason he died was because you and the villagers did nothing to help him. He fought alone and died because he was abandoned." Naruto said.

Tazuna was floored. All this time he thought that Naruto was a happy-go-lucky kid. A person who really had little struggle in them. But then, in that instant, past all the anger and words, he saw despair. Like he was talking to a younger version of himself. Lucien was shocked as well. He never heard Naruto speak like that at all. Sure he wanted to tell Tazuna the same thing, that simply building a bridge, as amazing as it was, wouldn't be enough. That the only way to get rid of a guy like Gato isn't finding a way around him, but to fight him head on. Ayame smiled, as she knew exactly what Naruto had done. He began to change the heart of Tazuna, from a tired, disparate old man, to that of a veteran warriar. Mirage thought the same.

The boat carrying the group came to a halt on the shores of Wave. It was a long walk for the crew, but it was also the safest. At least, that's what they assumed the safest route was.

All five members of the party were clearly on edge. They knew that the Demon Brothers were only the first wave of combat that Gato would send, and another, more dangerous enemy would be approaching then shortly. Naruto heard a rustle in the bushes and through a kunai into the bush to try to get the enemy by surprise. Unfortunately for him, he grazed a rabbit by the ear by mistake. Since it was a common mistake nobody really took the mistake seriously. Mirage, however noticed something wrong with the rabbit. The coating was off on the rabbit, meaning that it wasn't native and likely used as a substitution.

"EVERYONE DOWN!!" Mirage shouted. Ayame pulled Tazuna down to the ground, Naruto fell personally, and Mirage dropped Lucien right down to the ground. The group then saw a huge sword fly through the sky and imbedded itself into a tree. A tall man with short spiky hair stood landed right on the sword. He had the Kiri symbol on his head and no shirt, instead having straps from his pants looping over his shoulders. Another signature trait was that he had bandages covering the lower half of his face from his view. He chuckled and addressed the shinobi.

"So the Demon Brothers failed. That much I know. What I don't know is who you are, and how you managed to defeat them. I recognize none of you."

"Surprise is a something all shinobi strive for. Is it not, Zabuza Momochi?" Mirage said going in front of the group.

Zabuza just chuckled and picked up his sword, and jumped onto the surface of a nearby river and gathered a huge amount of chakra up. "Ninja art, hidden mist jutsu." The entire battlefield was then covered with a dense mist. Nobody on the field could see clearly.

"Oh the famous hidden mist jutsu? I am shocked that you think so highly of me Zabuza. Using your nickname as Demon of the Hidden Mist seriously huh." Mirage forced some chakra into her hands, making them into a thick coating of chakra.

"Listen lady, you're not in any bingo book. You stand no chance against someone like me. Why not just hand over the bridge builder and I may spare your life." Zabuza taunted again.

"If that's the way you want to go at it fine then Zabuza. I should warn you though, the reason that I'm not in any bingo book is because nobody really does know my true face. If you did, you'd be running for the hills Zabuza. You sure you want a piece of me?"

"Eight points." Zabuza's voice seemed to echo from around the battlefield. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vain, collarbone, kidney, heart. Eight choices, how do you wish to die?" An image of Zabuza appeared in between the entire group and poised to strike. Just before he made contact with Tazuna, Mirage hit Zabuza with a chakra enforced palm thrust making it turn into a puddle of water.

"So, it seems that you're not half bad lady. Though you still don't compare to me." Another Zabuza dropped from the ground in an attempt to cut Mirage in half vertically, but Mirage was able to sidestep the blow and kick Zabuza in the chest destroying the clone again.

"You can throw clone after clone at me Zabuza, I've got all day." Mirage then sidestepped an attack aimed at her back and decapitated the next clone. Zabuza then dropped into the clearing right in front of Mirage looking a little miffed.

"Who are you anyway? Nobody not listed in my bingo book should be able to dodge and counter my attacks." Zabuza asked.

"I think that you need to get your head out of your bingo book Zabuza. I'm the real deal. Fight me for real Zabuza or else this fight will be your last."

"I see, you are the one to take the Demon Brothers down didn't you?"

"Nope. My team did that. I chased around your little rat, who I'm assuming is watching this battle." Mirage said. "Which is good because he's the one who's going to have to pick the pieces up from what I'm going to do to you."

Zabuza lunged again at Mirage with his sword which she dodged. Mirage responded with a kick that Zabuza parried off before swinging his sword again at her in a downward motion. Mirage leaped on the sword, forcing it down while launching a palm thrust at Zabuza's arm. Before the kick could connect, Zabuza used his legs to push Mirage away. She then did a flip in midair and landed right on her feet.

_Hmmm, she's too fast for my kenjutsu to me effective. It looks like I'll need to take this fight to the ninjutsu level. _Before Mirage landed, Zabuza sped through some hand signs and called out his water dragon jutsu. After he said this a massive dragon made out of water aimed right for Mirage. Mirage saw the dragon coming at her, and ran off to the side, avoiding the attack of the dragon. Zabuza was prepared for this and flew through some more seals before launching a giant vortex of water at the new location Mirage was at. She then flew by some hand seals and trapped herself in a dome of earth. When the vortex hit, the dome turned into mud.

Zabuza flew by more seals and repeated the jutsu towards Mirage. Mirage leaped in a forty-five degree angle, away from the incoming vortex and sped into Zabuza with her chakra scalpels activated again. Before she got there however, Zabuza made a clone and sent it to attack her. Mirage easily parried the attack again, but in the process lost track of the shinobi.

_Hmm where did he go? Wait, the water I'm standing on. Shit._

"Water style, water prison jutsu." Zabuza yelled out before trapping Mirage in a sphere of water. The gennin were floored to see their sensei trapped in a prison of water. "Ha trapped you. Now you can't escape my clutches. This prison may be made of water."

"Yeah yeah tough as steel. I heard ya the first time. So what do you plan to do? Kill Tazuna? Cause you know, the minute that you release me, I'll kill you." Mirage warned.

"How when you're too depressed from watching your gennin killed right in front of your face? It's a shame too, wasting such promising prospects that could kill the Demon Brothers. Water clone jutsu." Zabuza created another image of himself and was going to have it attack the gennin. All of a sudden, he heard the sound of laughter coming from his prison. He looked to see what was so funny, but when he looked at his prison he saw that nothing was there. He then saw another Mirage coming right at him.

Quickly, he grabbed his sword with the hand that held the prison up and swung it at the jonin instructor. He smiled when he cleaved through the woman, but his eyes widened when the woman turned into water. _It makes no sense, if she wasn't in the prison and if she wasn't this, then where is she?_ Zabuza suddenly felt a surging pain going through his dominant arm and leg. Looking over he saw a smirking and wet Mirage. "H-how? What did you do?"

"Simple, the minute that you turned your head to look at my gennin, I cast a genjutsu on you making you think I wasn't there. Then, using a water clone that I created earlier and making it attack you, you released me from my prison and I was able to blindside you."

An enraged Zabuza reached for his sword only to find that he couldn't pick it up. "Oh you won't be lifting that. You see my last attack severed your tendons in the arm making it completely useless." Mirage then kicked Zabuza in the stomach, making him fly into a tree. She then stuck him there using four kunai. Zabuza was helpless.

"Who are you. Being able to defeat me. What is your name?"

"You don't deserve to know my name. Give my regards to Lenneth-sama. You will be meeting her very shortly." Mirage ran after Zabuza when all of a sudden, a short ninja with hair split into separate sides of his face jumped down. He wore a mask marking him as a member of the hunter corps of Kiri and wore a blue kimono.

"Ah so the accomplice arrives. Here to save Zabuza from a bitter death eh."

"I don't want to fight you. Especially with Zabuza-sama in this condition." The hunter-nin spoke in a calm and collected voice. One much different then the fierce and ferocious.

"Then what do you want? Your intentions are obvious. Save Zabuza from me. What do I gain from this?"

"It would be easy for me to take you down in your weakened condition and then take down the builder and and your team. Especially the silver-haired one. Let us go, and nobody gets hurt. This is my last warning. I can guarantee casualties if this continues." The ninja then took some senbon from his pouch and loaded them in his hands.

Mirage scowled at the ninja. She knew that he wasn't bluffing and her team was still recovering from the fight the previous day. She knew that this ninja could take her team, yet if she let them go, another attack on them was guaranteed. She did what she knew she had to do. "Fine, take him away. But if you or him show your faces on this mission again, I'll kill you both myself. Understand?"

"I do. But you are in no position threaten me. I'll relay your message to Zabuza-sama, but if we see your team again, we'll kill them." The ninja then took Zabuza onto his shoulders and was off away, only leaving a pile of smoke where he stood. The mist cleared on the battlefield and the team was confused about what just happened. Sure, they witnessed and heard the events that happened, but they didn't know why she let the ninja go.

"Sensei, why'd you let them get away. I bet that you could have taken that ninja easy?" Naruto exclaimed. Mirage just looked back to her team and let out a heavy sigh.

"No I couldn't. At least not in my condition. Between the genjutsu, yesterdays healing, the dome, water clones, and attacks that I laid on Zabuza, along with keeping up my disguise, I couldn't take him."

"But he didn't look that tough sensei. Surely you could take him weakened or not. I mean he's our age for goodness sakes." Ayame replied.

"Didn't you see that mask that he wore guys?" All three nodded and Mirage continued. "That mask is special, a mask only given to the most elite members of Kirigakure. He is skilled, very skilled. When the time comes, the three of you may have may have to take him on, however in this condition you can't."

"But sensei, why didn't that ninja just wipe us out then? He could have easily done it in our condition, so why did he let us go?" Lucien asked.

"Because if he did, then Zabuza would have surely died in the process. He put the mission aside for his master, a trait seldom found in the shinobi world today. It's an honorable trait, one that only the truly noble have." Mirage said. "Tazuna-san, let's get you back to your village so that we can rest and regain our chakra."

With that said, team one left and went over to the bridge bulider's house. Lucien though looked back at the sight of the battle, and he knew that someone was following them. Someone so powerful, that they could make the Hokage himself run for the hills. What disturbed him though, was that nobody on his team, even Mirage could sense it. That single fact meant that a Valkyrie was hot on their trail, and Lucien didn't like it at all.

Meanwhile, the masked ninja was helping Zabuza recover from his wounds. He carefully looked over the damage done to his arm and leg. _Hmm, it looks like the tendons were the target. I can't heal something like that quickly. Wave country though is known for its various herbs and whatnot though. Using them I may be able to get Zabuza-sama in operating condition after about a week or so. Still, that kunoichi may be trouble. Not only was she able to sense me in the fight with the Demon Brothers, but she seemed well versed in all of the shinobi arts. It's very tough to plan for an opponent like that._

_Another factor is that boy. He's not normal, maybe he has a bloodline as well, but I've never seen anything like it. Nothing I've ever read in Kiri contains something like what he did. In the next encounter, I'll have to separate the gennin and focus on the silver-haired boy. Though that's easier said then done. _

Zabuza groaned as his accomplice placed some of his healing creams on his arm. "Ugh, you know, you didn't need to save me Haku. I had that fight under control."

"Maybe so Zabuza-sama, but still I had to intervene. With your arm the way it is, you couldn't have possibly beaten her. Wait until you've recovered and take her on again. I'll stop the gennin from intervening." Haku said.

"Yes do it. However something was off about her. A shinobi so well versed in all elements of combat, hasn't been seen for almost twelve years, ever since the last member of Whirlpool died. But the faces don't match up."

"Whirlpool? I never read anything about them Zabuza-sama."

"You wouldn't have. Kirigakure kept everything about that village under tight wraps. They were a village that existed until about twenty years ago, when a natural disaster destroyed it. All their shinobi believed in total balance. Facing any of them was a nightmare for average opponents because they could pick you apart by using your weaknesses against you. Knowing this I'll rip her apart next time."

"What about the boy? He also used an ability that I've never seen before. He could crystallize an enemy or ally and trade places with it. Also, he was able to channel huge amounts of power in one use. I've never seen anything like it."

Zabuza's eyes widened in realization before snickering. The snickering turned into laughter. "That sounds like a Valkyrie. A thought to be extinct bloodline similar to yours. It's also the only bloodline thought to be truly divine. Though that is truly a myth."

"That's incredible Zabuza-sama. But how did this clan die?"

"Nobody knows. They just started disappearing until they eventually vanished. The Mizukage speculated that they were slowly wiped out by Konoha, though that was his theory. He would be a great addition to our team Haku. When you fight the gennin, make sure that he doesn't die. He'll be useful." Zabuza concluded.

...

I changed a few things around. First off, Haku intervened in the fight because he suspected that using his cover would be useless. But I like the way I made Haku come off.

I changed the fight with Zabuza like the Demon Brothers fight. But again I'm pleased with the results.

I'm unraveling the mystery surrounding Mirage little by little. But I won't fully reveal it until after Wave.

I always felt that simply building a bridge wouldn't throw off Gato's tyranny. The reason that he wants Tazuna dead, is that taking the bridge would just cost more money. That explains the boat scene.

No Lenneth this chapter, but she will appear again a few times before Wave. I'll explain everything about Lucien, Lenneth, Mirage, and my take on VP:s ending after the Wave mission. So if you're playing VP:s now, try to finish it soon because spoilers will be on the way. If you've never played VP:s, play it, it's a great game with an awesome plot.

Next Chapter: The Crisis in Wave

Expected Release: Tuesday August 12

Thank you for reading Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Please review.


	6. Crisis in Wave

Fox, Waitress, Valkyrie

Chapter 6- Crisis in Wave

I've got a ton of momentum and I'm charging forward with chapter 6. I'm again thankful to all who reviewed so let's start with them shall we.

Joseph33759: Thanks again. Fight scenes I'm still a bit uncomfortable with writing fights, but I think that I'm getting better

Atlantis-rob: Awesome. I love my OCs as well. BTW any fic that I write will have at least Lucian, different powers same personality, Sora, no changes at all, and Mirage, again no changes. I don't like to get OC crazy though and create and develop several Ocs. I have though, seen people do an amazing job on this. I'm a fan of simple yet dynamic changes. So many fics want to reinvent the wheel but I'll take the cannon, slightly tweak it into something that hasn't been done a million times, and viola.

Where r my chips: I honestly haven't thought that far ahead yet. Though I'm going to lean towards that.

DeExil: Thanks a lot. If you liked that then part 2 Mirage vs Zabuza will rock ya.

This chapter is kind of a filler which is the in between between the last fight and the bridge. I'll cram most of the Wave arc here but I'll skip the whole hero of wave scene. Really don't like it very much.

Also, in the beginning of this chap, I'll be changing the POV a lot. It should be easy to navigate.

...

Team one stood outside of Tazuna's house in the early morning. Naruto and Ayame were awaiting training, while Lucien was still recovering from his chakra exhaustion. But at least now, he could walk under his own power. Mirage had a new regiment available though for team one, who had now passed all of the preliminary tests.

"Now, to get all of you ready to face that hunter-nin soon, I'm giving you the next level of your training. Elemental tests part one you could say. Which element do you want to start with?" Mirage then heard twin shouts of fire and wind. The fire came from Ayame, and the wind came from Naruto. Mirage rubbed her temples. "OK that didn't work. Well then in that case, I say we do fire."

"Now, in part one of the fire test, you had to walk up and down the base of the tree. Part two is significantly more difficult. First of all in my fight against Zabuza, did any of you notice us do something a little ... unusual?"

Naruto and Ayame thought about it for a while. To be honest, in the mist visibility was scarce and they really didn't see anything unusual. "So, are you teaching us to walk on water?" Lucien added, making Naruto and Ayame's eyes to shoot open.

"You don't miss much, do ya kid? But he's right." Mirage said. "You're fighting a mist ninja. A mist hunter level ninja. As a hunter he could be anywhere from mid chunin, to ANBU level. Needless to say, this skill will be a must. Even though Konoha frowns on their jonin teaching this to gennin."

"But why does Konoha frown on teaching this skill to gennin?" Ayame said.

"According to the council it's irrelevant for any gennin to use this skill and teaching them such a high level of chakra control is dangerous. I however say that they're full of shit and we're going to learn how to walk on water."

"Now for the lesson. When you walked up a tree, it involved using a steady stream of chakra on your feet on a steady surface. Water however is different." Mirage picked up a pebble and threw it into the river that their training ground was close to. "Notice the ripples stemming from where the pebble hit. It's not solid it's liquid so you always have to change up the amount of chakra used. Now try it out."

Naruto and Ayame charged up their chakra and set out on the surface of the water. Naruto lasted about a second and a half before he plunged into the water. It was then that Naruto made a sudden discovery. One could call it a chilling discovery. Naruto jumped out of the water screaming his head off. This caused Ayame to lose focus and fall in as well. She reacted similarly.

When they both got out of the shore, Lucien was rolling on the ground laughing at the two teens. Mirage was trying to be more lady-like and discreet. She failed. Naruto and Ayame shared glares at the two people.

"Most jonins use a hot spring to teach this skill. I find that a nice chilling river is sooo much more effective. Now try again. Lucien, since you can walk now, I want you to guard Tazuna for the day. Can you still defend yourself?"

"Molding chakra is still really difficult for me, though I can now receive energy from Yggdrasil so I'm not helpless. Easily more then enough to take down a group of bandits and a couple of hired thugs."

"Good go then and guard him. I want you to return to training tomorrow though. Will you be ready by then?" Naruto and Ayame once again leaped out of the freezing cold water.

"Yeah, I'll be ready." Lucien left the clearing leaving only Mirage, Naruto, and Ayame to balance on the water.

"Alright, we're going at this for another hour or so and then I'll let you warm up before we will continue training with water."

Lucien was extremely bored at the bridge guarding Tazuna. He and a bunch of other old geezers were taking their sweet time building the thing. However, he still had that sense of foreboding. He knew that someone was still following them, and that feeling was stronger then ever, meaning that whichever Valkyrie was following them was close, very close.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Ayame moved on to the next exercise. This one was a bit fore fearsome then getting rocks thrown at them. It was making trying to stay inside the circle while avoiding an onslaught by Mirage. If they stayed inside the circle for two minutes, they passed. They'd been at it for over an hour and the best was done by Naruto who lasted sixteen seconds.

Ayame had progressed very well on the water walking, being able to stay on the water for over a minute but struggling after that. Naruto could do about twelve seconds.

Later on Mirage had them do the second phase of earth testing. It was different in that the student would have to out muscle Mirage and force her out of a ring that she created. Of course, Mirage didn't use her full power against the gennin, but still enough that Naruto and Ayame never stood a chance. In fact neither of the two was even able to make Mirage take a step backward.

Water was the test though that changed the most. This time though they were to juggle a soccer ball in the air for over five minutes, using every part of the body. Doing this works not only on one's focus, but also on the coordination of the body.

Finally was the lightning phase. During the lightning phase, the one taking the phase had to force their opponent, the other gennin, to submit in two minutes or less. Once again, Naruto's kagebunshins kept Ayame from locking in a hold, while Ayame's creativity and flexibility prevented Naruto from even putting a scratch on her face.

To end their day, Mirage left the two gennin to finish off the day by doing the fire phase once more. The two were last seen warming up their frozen bodies.

Lucien himself was on guard duty with Tazuna. Nothing at all happened at the bridge and was now walking the builder through the marketplace. For him the scene was terrible. Back in Konoha, people would be crowding the markets. Hundreds upon hundreds crowded them looking for food to bring home for supper. The families themselves always looked happy and cheerful. Here though was a different story.

Here the only people in the marketplace were beggars and thugs. Lucien already stopped one thug from mugging himself and Tazuna. Children, small children, who in Konoha would be getting released from their day of the academy, were now on the street wearing what can be loosely called clothes.

_So, this is what poverty is really like? This is awful, worse then I ever thought. I bet these people can't afford to even use a restroom. Why would Gato let things get this bad? What kind of sick, twisted person makes a group of people suffer like this for his own game?_

"I told you it was bad didn't I?" Tazuna said. He noticed the pity and sympathy that Lucien gave the children. "Unfortunately, the streets are like this all the time nowadays. And that's why we need the bridge."

"No, that's why Gato has to die." Lucien responded. "This is just sick. It's inhuman. Children the age of fresh academy students forced into begging, girls Ayame's age being forced into prostitution, it's sick. These kids can't even go to the bathroom like we do in Konoha. It's wrong, and Gato will pay for this."

Once again, Tazuna was surprised at the gennin that were sent to guard him. From experience, most people from ninja villages that would pass through the village would look down at the orphans in scorn. Like the kids had only themselves to blame for being in such poverty. It was comforting to know that some people really and truly cared about the people.

_All this time we've been praying for a miracle. Some angelic being to come down and rescue us from the hell that faces us. We all thought that the bridge would save us from Gato but what if they're right. Maybe, no definitely, these guys are right. Gato needs to go down._

After receiving all the food that they would need for supper, not that they really had a selection to go on, Lucien escorted Tazuna the rest of the way to his house. But on the way there he saw something that frightened him. A woman, wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and darker blue vest was giving some food to a group of orphans. She also had her long silver hair flow down to her back before it was braided down the rest of the way. She had on a brown skirt with blue leggings down the rest of their legs and matching blue sandals. Her eyes held a gentle blue towards the orphans she was feeding.

Lucien froze and went pale. _This woman is, no woman doesn't describe her. Goddess is really what she is. A being so powerful that she herself controls the fate of the ones who are reborn or sent to Valhalla, or those whose souls are so tainted and dark that they fall into the Abyss. Lenneth Valkyrie._

Meanwhile, Lenneth turned her gaze towards the boy who now stood before her, mouth agape. Her gaze turned from a gentle turquoise, to a cold and calculating blue. _This boy, he's different then all these orphans. Not only is he healthy making him clearly an outsider, but his energy signature is also odd. He definitely has Yggdrasil energy flowing through his system. But no human or even undead should be able to do that. Is he responsible for what I saw back in the forest. Judging by his face and reaction to seeing me, he knows just who I am. But the question is, who is he. I'll have to ask Rufus-sama and Alicia-sama after observing this boy a bit longer._

The two were engaged in a stare down with Lenneth winning the stare, as Lucien slowly backpedaled. Tazuna, though, didn't know who this lady was and decided to introduce himself. "Well now, don't get many like you in these parts. Who are ya and where ya from?"

Lucien just slapped his forehead. While both Lucien and Lenneth thought, _Does he know who he's talking to._

"My name is Lenneth, and I'm a traveler. I saw that these children were starving and needed food. Is that a problem?" Her voice was hard and tough.

"No not at all Lenneth-san. Just as a fellow villager I'm happy that somebody is willing to give a hand up."

"Ah, and who's the boy? Your son perhaps?"

"Oh no. Ya see this boy here is a shinobi that I hired. I'm an ultra important builder in this here town so I need some protection. His name's Lucien."

"This boy, a shinobi? Does he even talk?"

"Sorry Lenneth-sama. But you and Tazuna-sama here were in an important discussion, and a shinobi such as myself shouldn't really enter into a discussion with two important people." Lucien said, bowing to Lenneth. Tazuna about lost it from Lucien's polite attitude.

"What's the matter kid? You're acting all polite. What happened to the kid who was always cracking jokes about Naruto and Ayame's kiss, or making gradual sarcastic comments?" Tazuna patted Lucien on the back, while Lucien responded with an emotionless gaze. Lenneth looked amused, an emotion that the Valkyrie rarely felt.

"I don't know what you're talking about Tazuna-sama. Insulting two lovers is disgraceful. Sarcasm also is not a part of my demeanor. I'm just a hired hand nothing else."

"Well it was nice meeting both of you, but I really have to be going."

"Really? Where'ya stayin at Lenneth-san?" Lucien once again paled even farther.

_Please, Rufus-sama. If you really care about my clan. Please don't have Tazuna do what I think he's gonna do._

"Oh just staying at the local inn. Something simple and modest."

"Nonsense stay at my place. We have plenty of room there and we could use another guest." Tazuna said that but on the inside was completely different. _It's so fun watching Lucien squirm like this. Bringing Lenneth into the home would just be super fun to watch._

"Why thank you Tazuna-san. I think I may take you up on your offer._" This is perfect. Staying in his house will allow me to watch the boy much more closely._

"It is an honor to have you stay in our presence Lenneth-sama." _Tazuna I swear after Gato I'm coming after you. Rufus-sama you too._

Lenneth got some of the specifics from Tazuna and left to get some things that she claimed to have left behind in a hotel. Lucien didn't bye it, but said nothing. Afterwards Tazuna turned to an upset Lucien. "Hey, what's with you kid? I've never seen you act that polite." When Lucien stayed silent, Tazuna continued. "You act like you just saw the shinigami kid."

"Something like that Tazuna."

Meanwhile Naruto and Ayame were huddled up in blankets warming up from their strenuous and chilling exercise. Both teens however were struggling to warm up. It was just entering dusk and the chill air was really starting to effect the teens. When they finished up earlier in the day, it was still relatively early and the Sun was out. Now they were struggling to get warm again. Mirage wanted to head back to Tazuna's house to check up on the family and Lucien so they were all alone.

"H-hey N-naruto-kun?" Ayame said with her teeth chattering.

"Y-yes, Ayame-n-neechan?"

"W-we may have to ummm," Ayame started saying but began to trail off as her voice got silenced and her face reddened.

"S-sorry Ayame-n-neechan d-didn't catch that."

Ayame took another deep breath and composed herself. "It's g-getting k-kind of l-lat and umm we m-may get s-sick if we s-stay like this." Ayame didn't really finish her sentence and Naruto caught on to what she was saying as the two started blushing fiercely.

"W-well. I c-could turn around while you c-change. Then you could cover yourself up while I change. T-that way we don't s-see anything." To show his point, Naruto pulled his headband down over his eyes so that she knew they were covered. Then he turned around just to be safe. He heard the sound of wet clothes rustling and eventually he heard nothing before Ayame made her presence known.

"Naruto-kun, you can look now." Ayame said. Naruto looked around and saw that Ayame looked much warmer then she did before. Maybe though that was because her face was red as a raspberry. Ayame took her headband from her neck and put it over her eyes now, giving Naruto a chance to change. Ayame pointed to a tree in the clearing and told him to put his stuff there next to hers. He did as told and he did feel a bit better though, now that his wet clothes were off. The two sat in silence for little while until Ayame struck up a conversation.

"Boy, things are getting a bit crazy huh?"

"What do you mean nee-chan?"

"Just this mission that's all. I mean here we are the first of our class getting a C-rank and then all this comes out. We went from bandits, to chunin, to now fighting a hunter. It's just that, you know, things got a bit insane."

"I know what you mean. This whole mission has gotten hectic. Are you afraid of what might happen when we do see that hunter again?"

"I don't know. Tactically we're at a disadvantage in more ways then one. He knows about us. He saw the fight with the Demon Brothers. He's also got more experience then we do. It would also be correct in saying that he's much stronger then us too. It's just, how do we beat someone like that?"

"I don't know Ayame-neechan. But I do know this. In order to protect Wave, we need to win this battle. I don't care how tough he is or even how good he is. We'll take him down. You, me, and Lucien, together can take him down. I do my best when the cards are stacked against me. And I'll protect you with my life. Nothing will ever harm you again."

Ayame reached over and gave Naruto a hug. Naruto, being used to contact like this responded in tune and the two sat together like that for a while. Before they could break apart however they noticed another person in the clearing. One such person who now had in his own personal files, blackmail for life.

"Oh I don't need to see that." That simple line broke up the pair who were now fiercely blushing. It was then that they both noticed that their blankets had slipped a little bit revealing that the kids had changed out of their normal clothes and into their undergarments. This though caused Naruto and Ayame to blush even farther and Lucien to laugh even louder at the two. "So I'm going to turn around and let the two of you get yourselves get decent and then we need to get ready for supper. We have another guest at the house."

Ayame started to get changed while Naruto blindfolded himself and Lucien just turned around. "What do you mean important guest?" Naruto asked.

"Tazuna found a lady in the street. She was feeding some orphans and Tazuna decided to bring her in. She's an important member to my clan too so y'all better not get freaky underneath the table or something."

"Really?" Ayame called out. "What's her name? Also is she from Konoha?"

"No to the second question. As far as her name, it's Lenneth." Ayame finished changing into her new, somewhat dry, clothing, giving Naruto the chance to change himself. Ayame now blindfolded herself.

"So what did the two of you do for training anyway? I assume that that really wasn't what Mirage-sensei meant by build stamina."

Ayame and Naruto ignored the stamina joke and answered. "Let's see, we had to push someone out of a ring, juggle a ball, dodge an assault, and lastly make the other person in the group submit." Lucien started to open up his mouth to say something, but Ayame beat him to it. "Shut up Lucien."

"Honestly man, you and those jokes. Will you ever stop with them?" Naruto said. Lucien paused and put his hand on his chin for a while.

"I really don't foresee it. Did sensei give you guys the training schedule for the week yet?"

"Yeah she did. I get guard duty tomorrow while you two train together. Then the next day, Ayame-neechan will guard Tazuna while we train and then we renew the cycle." Naruto explained.

"Sounds fair. Definitely something that sensei would come up with. Come on, we can't keep Lenneth-sama waiting."

"Lenneth-sama?" Naruto and Ayame exclaimed together.

"Yeah, as I mentioned, Lenneth-sama is an important person to my clan so thus we treat her as such." Naruto and Ayame just gave each other a mischievous look.

"Well come on Naruto-kun, we can't keep Lenneth-sama waiting."

"Of course Ayame-neechan. We can't be late for Lenneth-sama."

"You both are a couple of douchebags you realize that?"

"And we learned it from you. The head douchebag." Ayame said.

"Yeah you got a point." Lucien finished.

Dinner at Tazuna's house was nothing fancy, but certainly nothing to be laughed at. Lenneth had joined them for supper, and the group saw Lucien's transformation into a polite and straight-forward guy. Team one found it hilarious as well. Naruto and Ayame were glad because now they actually had blackmail on the boy. All went well until a young boy stood at the front of the room.

"What's the point anyway? All that's gonna happen to you guys is that you're gonna die. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave here now with your lives." The group stopped eating and just looked at the boy. He had on blue overalls and a white t-shirt under it. He had black hair that was covered by a white fisherman's hat.

Naruto stopped eating and turned to face the boy. "Well I'm not too sure about that. Gato already sent some people after us and we took them down. The more he sends, the more we defeat. Unlike you, I don't fear anyone, because I'm gonna be Hokage."

"You're going to do nothing like that. People far stronger then you tried and failed to take down Gato. You don't know anything."

"Unlike the last person who tried to get Gato, I got help." Naruto looked at Ayame, Lucien, and Mirage. "Trust me on this one gaki, we will be Gato."

"You? You who knows nothing about suffering? Don't make me laugh. We've had it far worse then you could ever dream of so don't be spewing crap like that. You're all laughing and joking. You all make me sick."

A pin could fall in that room and make an audible noise. All four members of team one glared at the young child and all of a sudden, the room heard a very loud crack. The crack that came from Naruto's chopsticks.

"You little gaki." Naruto's voice changed into a cold tone that sent shivers down everybody in the room. "You think you have it bad? You got a family and friends. You ever killed a man before? A man who taught you for years and made you think that he really cared about you? How about having the people treat you like a plague, a disease that needed to be kept beyond arms length at all times? No. Figured."

Naruto stormed out of the room and Ayame quickly followed him. Lucien went to follow, but Lenneth grabbed his arm. The kid also left the room crying and Mirage followed him out.

"I need to have a word with you if you please." Lenneth said to Lucien. Lucien nodded and the pair went outside to a place where they could talk. That just left Tazuna and his young daughter in the dining room.

Naruto ran far into the night, before he reached the clearing where the group trained no less then a couple of hours ago. Ayame reached him before too long. Ayame closed the distance between the two and embraced Naruto in a gentle hug.

"Don't worry about him Naruto-kun. He had no right to say those things to you. Nobody had it tougher then you, but you got strong while he got weak."

"It's just hard you know. Saying that to that coward brought up painful memories. Memories of what happened with Mizuki and my childhood in general. At least until you came into my life Ayame-chan."

Ayame blushed a bit at being called "chan" by Naruto as opposed to "neechan" what he always called her. "You had it rough. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger I always say."

"You never say that." The two shared a small laugh and broke apart from the hug. "So, you want to get started again?"

"Get started again? Is that why you came all the way out here? To train some more?"

"You bet. We're gonna prove to that coward that heroes do exist. We'll deliver Wave from Gato." Ayame smiled at the thought of a Wave without Gato.

Meanwhile Lenneth had Lucien also out in the middle of nowhere. Lucien was anxious and curious at what the goddess had to say to him. "So shall we begin?" Lenneth started. Lucien nodded his head letting Lenneth start. It's obvious that you are not like the others. You are able to harness the energy of Yggdrasil, a feat that no human should be able to do. How did you get that power?"

"I don't know Lenneth-sama. It's a power that's been passed on throughout my clan for generations."

"I see. Do you know who the first person in this clan is then?" Lucien nodded his head.

"Yes. My first ancestor is a woman named Platina. She and her husband Lucian, who I'm named after, started our clan. Though the origins of our powers is still a mystery. I don't know how we got our powers since only a Valkyrie can possess them. Well I guess that Alicia-sama is the exception to that because she held Silmeria-sama."

_Platina? I've never even heard of that name before. Perhaps a child of Brahms and Silmeria? No that doesn't make sense. An undead and a Valkyrie making a human is impossible. Rufus-sama and Alicia? Again not likely. If he was then he would have been born in Valhalla not here. I know that it can't be mine since I'm a virgin. That means that he has to be a descendant of Hrist. I must report this to Rufus-sama. Perhaps he would know about Hrist's infidelity._

"Are you going to do anything to me Lenneth-sama? Knowing that I have these powers will you still let me walk among the living?"

"You have no control over what powers you were born with. Removing you from the mortal coil would be an injustice to Rufus-sama. No the fault lies with Hrist. I will report this to Rufus-sama and we'll see what he does about her. You however are in the clear." Lucien beamed and sighed in relief. "Can you take einjarier as well?"

"My clan has. I haven't tried yet though. Obviously we can't send them to Valhalla or judge them as you can Lenneth-sama, but we still can reincarnate them back into the world of the living in their previous bodies."

"I see. Under what tenses would you take an einjarier?" Lucien thought for a moment before answering.

"It would either be a person that I know to have a noble spirit at heart and pure soul, or someone who I felt never really had a chance at life and deserves another one." Lenneth smiled at the boy.

"A good and pure response. Your parents must be proud of you." Lucien turned away from the goddess here.

"I hope so. My clan was slowly wiped out by our village because they were afraid of us. My parents were forced to leave when I was still young. The village doesn't know of my powers except for my team of course, but I trust them."

"Your clan was of divine blood. It's natural that humans would fear that. Can I ask you of something though Lucien?"

"What do you need Lenneth-sama?"

"Drop the formality from everybody around me. Your sensei and the builder spoke of you as a bit of a sarcastic child, who speaks his mind. I kind of want to see the real you."

"But Lenneth-sama, I couldn't speak so vulgarly in front of one as divine as yourself. But if you wish it, I will speak differently around Tazuna. May I ask a question Lenneth-sama?"

"Yes you may."

"Is Rufus-sama a serious guy, or a kind of person who makes sarcastic remarks and stuff?"

Lenneth sighed. She knew that this boy, in a way, reminded her of Rufus. "The latter. Why do you ask?"

"Because I asked before that if Rufus was a kind soul, then Tazuna wouldn't have invited you to stay with us." Lucien here did something that no human could admit to. He got Lenneth Valkyrie to openly laugh.

Mirage meanwhile reached Inari who was now openly crying on the pier outside the house. She put her hand on his shoulder and sat down next to him.

"You know? About fourteen years ago I gave birth to a baby girl and I was so happy about it. I heard later that she was taken from my care later and kidnapped. My husband and I were devastated. Two years later, I gave birth again this time to a child this one a boy. Do you want to know what happened then?"

"What? You lived happily ever after right?"

Mirage shook her head. "No. Soon after his birth my beloved died in an attack and I was just left with my son. Days later, a woman, jealous at me for stealing the so called love of her life tried to kill him just to spite me. I was able to intercept the attack, but it cost me my life."

"So y-y-you're a g-g-g-ghost?" Mirage laughed at the boy's expression.

"No I'm not. You see a good friend of mine was able to save my soul and make me reborn into the body that I lost, giving me my life back. It took me seven years to gain my body back. Though even when I came back I couldn't show him who I really was." Mirage started to cry here. "Seven damn years and my son still doesn't know what his mother looks like."

"Well why don't you just show him then? Wouldn't he be happy to have his mom back?"

"He's been alone his whole life, treated like a plague by the village. Foraging for food in the trash, getting chased daily by angry mobs, and abandoned by anyone his own age. Well except for one that is. She allied herself with him even though she got similar treatment at times. Point is, you have things really bad, but things can always be worse. But I'll tell you this, you can always fight. If Wave fights as one, Gato will fall. Just let us take care of the big guys k?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure what do you wanna know?"

"What's your real name? Obviously Mirage is just some type of code name."

"Sure but it's kinda secret so you gotta pinky swear not to tell anyone. Not your mom or grandfather got it. Pinky swear?" Mirage held her pinky out for Inari to grab onto, which he did.

"Alright my name is Kushina. Uzumaki Kushina." It all clicked for Inari.

Day had broken and a young boy went out to pick herbs. He wore a long pink kimono and black hair that went down the length of his body. He held a basket near her as she went to look for her necessary items when he saw two ninja laying on the ground. One was a blond boy, and the other a brunette girl. What really made the situation sweet was that the boy had his arm draped over the chest of the girl.

Immediately he recognized the two as two of the shinobi that killed the Demon Brothers. He reached out to grab one of their necks, but decided against it and woke the boy up. He in turn woke the girl up and they rubbed their eyes wearily. "Wake up. You both will catch a cold here if you lay here."

Both of them looked at each other and stood up and stretched. "So neechan, what are you doing out here in this hour?" Naruto asked the boy.

"I'm picking medicinal herbs for wounds. I heard that this area was good for picking herbs and that's why I'm here." He looked at their forehead protectors. "So you're both ninja I see. Do you have anybody that you want to protect?"

Naruto looked at Ayame, who looked back at Naruto in return. "Yes we both do."

"That's good. Only those who have something to protect can get truly strong. Well good luck you two, I hope to see you again." Just as the ninja started to leave he heard the girl call out to him.

"So, what type of injuries is your friend ailing from miss ..."

"Haku. That's my name. He has muscle problems in his arm and I need some tranquilizers."

"You're not Zabuza's accomplice are you?" Ayame warned. Both her and Naruto had weapons out. He knew in this situation, that he couldn't win two on one. _This is bad. In this cloak I can't beat both of them. Wait a second, all three of them. I'm outmatched. I thought that by disguising myself then I wouldn't be suspected. Damn._

"You, in the trees, you can join us you know. I know that you're there." Lucien dropped into the clearing and put his weapon away, as did Naruto and Ayame. "Why relent. You clearly have me outmatched. You could kill me now and take Zabuza-sama four on one."

"Because you could have taken us out twice now. Once in the battle, and the second here. Why did you not kill us when you could have?" Naruto said.

"Real shinobi don't strike down another ninja that can't defend themselves. Besides this place is way too peaceful to bathe in the bloodshed of combat. Our fight looms ahead. Prepare yourselves."

"Hey uh Haku was it?" Haku nodded. "Now when you found these two over here, just how were they, position wise?"

"He had his arm over her. It was ... cute in a way. Oh and Naruto, I'm a boy."

"NO WAY YOU'RE A BOY!! YOU'RE ALMOST AS PRETTY AS AYAME-CHAN!!"

Ayame blushed, Haku chuckled, and Lucien downright lost it. They all knew though at that point that the next time they met, it wouldn't be as friends. They were enemies. Enemies in a fight to the death.

...

Ok explanations are clearly in order cause I spilled a lot of info here.

First off the Kushina being Mirage thing. It's a little cliché but I think that having a mother in his life, will help Naruto get through what he's going to go through. Ayame just isn't enough, he needs a motherly female presence.

Second, who was surprised by my VP insert here. Those who played VP:l and VP:s may realize that I combined elements. If you look at VP:l and VP:s you will notice several inconsistencies. I took those inconsistencies and created this. More will come with this.

Third, more NaruxAya fluff without a real romantic moment. I'm getting pretty close, but it won't happen quite yet. Be patient cause it's coming fast.

Four, yes Haku is male. Personally I can see why Haku would be seen as a girl, he's really girl looking, but he's male.

Thanks to all those who've stuck with my story so far.

Please review.

Next Chapter: Bridge Encounter Haku vs Team One

Release Date: Thursday August 14


	7. Test of Wills Naruto vs Haku

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 7- Test of Wills Naruto vs Haku

Alright, back to the story. Another chapter I'm cranking out. Geez I'm moving here. Thanks to all who reviewed. So let's get started with those reviews that I love so much. I know, I keep changing the title names, but after I get into writing the chapter the chapter name just seems kinda ineffective.

Leonspirit: Unfortunately cliché happens. Thanks for the review though. A lot of people were surprised.

Xwindscarx: Thanks. I liked the idea too. I'm unsatisfied with the fact that Kushina's death was never really discussed. So I made her appear here. As far as how he finds out, well, you'll have to stay with it and find out.

Atlantis-rob: Don't worry, a lot of people missed my subtle foreshadowing. Doing humorous and Lenneth is kinda tough too cause she's really straight-forward in VP:l.

Blitzfury: Pretty good. You've pretty much predicted the connection. But that's for a later date. I try writing until I reach about 1500 words, or about an hour and a half per night. One thing I hate about reading ff's is when chapters are so far apart that you forget what happened you know?

DeExil: Sorry bro never been there. Here it is, prepare to be rocked.

Joseph33759: Yeah I know. Unfortunately my main characters are getting kinda female heavy right now and I need a male to balance it out. Don't worry too much about it. But then again I agree, no way is Haku a boy.

Where r my chips: Uh-huh. That was one of my subtle clues.

Even though I announced Mirage as Kushina, I'll still refer to her as Mirage, because that's what team one knows her as.

Well, Wave is about to end with this fight on the bridge. It's looking like this chapter and the next will conclude the major battles, while one more as an epilogue. Look for the chunin exams to begin in a few chapters. On with the show. Oh and I don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile. Property of Kisimoto and Square-enix.

...

The week had passed pretty quickly for the team. Through that time, they worked hard under Mirage hard for their second elemental trials. So far, none of them had passed a single test, though all of them were getting close to mastering walking on water. They had now been through a full rotation and wrapping up the second rotation now.

Lenneth left the estate the night after she talked to Lucien. As a shinigami, she really couldn't afford to stay in one place for too long anyway. Even before she left though, Lucien began to act normal, well normal for him anyway.

Team one also heard the full story about Inari's father and how he saved the people and was slaughtered mercilessly by Gato. It was similar to the way Naruto described it, the people just sat back and let it happen.

It had been seven days since the initial fight with Zabuza, but today Mirage had an ominous feeling. She figured that she couldn't train her team anymore because she figured with the injuries that she dealt to Zabuza, that he should be coming about this time. She also figured that Gato may want to take a hostage from Tazuna's family. Thinking such, she left Lucien behind to protect Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, and Inari. It was a little past ten, when Naruto, Ayame, and Mirage arrived at the bridge to see fallen workers littering the ground. Mirage and team one knew that the second battle had come. Zabuza had returned.

Naruto and Ayame took a duel guard position around Tazuna, while Mirage stood up front. Zabuza jumped up onto the bridge and at his side stood Haku. "Well well you showed up. But it looks like you're missing someone. The Valkyrie perhaps?"

Mirage's eyes widened. _So Zabuza knows about Lucien. I shouldn't be surprised. As a former member of the seven swordsman, Zabuza is well informed. It seems now that Tazuna isn't the only target. Knowing of his powers, Zabuza would be a fool not to try to manipulate Lucien as well._ Naruto and Ayame though were stunned. They had no idea what a Valkyrie really was. "So, I take it that you want to use Lucien and his powers for your own purposes Zabuza? Well I won't let you. You die here."

"Huph. Haku go and show these gennin how it's done." Zabuza commanded. Haku stepped up into the center of the bridge while Naruto and Ayame stepped up to face him. Naruto put his arm in front of Ayame stopping her from proceeding.

"No Ayame-chan. Someone needs to protect Tazuna. And this boy is just like me. His eyes show what I had to deal with my whole life. Oh and in case I don't get back." Naruto then grabbed onto Ayame's shoulders and pulled her into him and kissed her. Ayame's eyes started out wide, but eventually closed and her arms loosened up at her sides as the two got lost in the kiss.

Mirage herself was split. While her motherly half was glad that the two had finally gotten together, her shinobi half wondered if this was really the time to do that. Zabuza just looked away while Haku watched on in happiness and sadness. Happy that with everything around them the two found each other, sad because he knew that he had to break that up. Though in his heart Haku wondered if he could really go through with it.

After a while, Naruto broke the kiss leaving a shocked and bright red Ayame. He then walked over to Haku and the two stood in front of each other face to face. Naruto started the fight off with a swift kunai strike at the throat of Haku. Haku jumped back and fired three senbon right at Naruto. Naruto matched those kunai with shuriken and they met in a stalemate. Haku quickly threw another four senbon hiding behind three and Naruto had no choice but to duck to the ground. Haku again jumped on the advantage raising a kunai to try to pierce Naruto's neck. Naruto rolled on the ground and swept at Haku's feet. He connected and Haku fell to the ground, but he threw more senbon at Naruto. The gennin then kip-upped back onto the ground as did Haku.

"You don't have to do this you know Haku. You don't have to take orders from Zabuza."

"No I do. For Zabuza-sama's dreams to become reality, Tazuna-san has to die. I only regret that it has come down to this." Haku pulled out another senbon.

"That too is a regret Haku. But if this is the way that it has to be, then so be it." Naruto pulled out a kunai and charged Haku again.

This time the two were locked in a struggle. Neither one gave the other person any room to move and the two quickly ran into a stalemate. "Give up Naruto. I now attain two critical advantages. Number one, we are completely surrounded by water. Number two, with one hand occupied you won't be able to dodge this next attack." Haku began to create numerous hand signs with a single hand shocking all people watching the fight. "Secret jutsu, a thousand needles of death." Hundreds of ice shards appeared above Naruto. Before they began their descent, Naruto kicked off of Haku and launched himself backwards before the needles hit him. Haku also jumped back and waited for the smoke to clear.

Before it did though, Haku was blindsided by Naruto with a punch coming at the side of his face. Naruto proceeded to hit Haku with a couple more punches before Haku got knocked back. Naruto wasn't finished though. He slid under Haku and kicked him up in the air. After that, he summoned a kagebunshin and had it launch Naruto into the air where he overtook Haku in the air and kicked Haku back down to the ground. Deciding to make the impact less fatal, Haku flipped in the air and landed on his feet and jumped back to Zabuza's side while clutching his chest. Naruto also landed on the ground and tried to catch his breath.

Mirage looked proud of Naruto. He was handling himself very well and so far, he was taking it to the hunter-nin Haku. Ayame also looked proud of him. She saw how he perform a bastardized version of Nibelung Valesti. It was a technique that she helped him develop the night after he yelled at Inari. Zabuza looked a bit impressed with the gennin for hanging with Haku for this long. Though he knew that this fight was anything but over.

Meanwhile, Lucien was on edge. He had been feeling small chakra pulses for the past few minutes and that meant that something big was going down. He also knew though that he had to take care of Tazuna's daughter as ordered. Inari was in the main area playing some kind of game. Suddenly, the door was burst down by a pair of samauri. One of them had a scar over his right eye and the other person had a clean face. Quick as a whip they were able to capture Inari and ran immediately out the door. Tsunami ran out to protect him with Lucien right behind her.

"Stop!!" Tsunami screamed. Both samurai turned around to look at her. Exchange me for my child. Take me instead."

"Well we do need a hostage and the girl would be more fun for us." The scarred samurai said with a perverted smirk on his face. "We accept." Both samurai said as they released Inari. But, when they went to grab the woman, she became trapped in a crystal and was replaced by the gennin.

"I think not. The deal is changed. You have two options. Option one, you leave now and never come back here again. Option two, you fight me now and end up dead. You pick."

"Ha. So you think that some little punk is gonna beat us. Shinobi or not you stand no chance." The plain samurai said as he took a swipe at Lucien, only for him to kick the sword out of his hand and across the pier. The second one tried to take a swipe at the boy as well, but he pulled out a kunai and parried the sword. He then kicked the samurai in the stomach and took his sword right from him, and stabbed the samurai with his own sword.

Lucien wasn't finished though. He took the sword that he now possessed and ran it threw the heart of the other samurai killing him. Inari and Tsunami looked on in shock at the ease for which Lucien had killed those men. Before he decided to destroy the bodies of the samurai he removed both of the samurai's sheaths. He decided to keep one for the sword that he just pillaged, and decided to keep the other in case he found someone who could use it. Silently he picked up the bodies of the samurai and threw them far into the sea.

"I told them. I gave them the option to live or die and they chose death." Lucien said. Inari just looked at Lucien in praise.

"That was awesome. Nobody ever stood up to Gato's men before and lived." Inari.

"Yes. No single person could stand up to him. A group however can. Naruto even said as much did he not?" Inari shuffled his feet and looked down to the ground. "He said that Wave will always live in tyranny if they don't fight for themselves. What will you do? Will you lay down and let Gato finish this place off? Or will you fight tooth and nail with Gato and drive him off?"

"I wanna fight. Gato's gotta pay." Inari said with exuberance. Lucien smiled at this.

"Good. Get the people together and meet my team at the bridge. I'll stay here in case they decide to come back and want some." Inari left in a hurry to tell the villagers about all that happened while Lucien drew the sword again and just looked at it for a while. _As usual with katana. It's in tremendous shape. It fits really well in my hand and is balanced perfectly. Such a waste that such a sword was wasted on such a pathetic swordsman. I think that this is a keeper._

Tsunami looked over to the silver haired boy and wondered what would happen next. "So Lucien-san, what are you going to do? Do you plan to join your teammates or protect me?"

"You can't be left here. I'm taking you to the bridge with me. Garb the other sword that the samurai left and put it in this sheath. I don't expect you to have to use it, but it's better then nothing." Tsunami picked up the sword and Lucien tossed her the sheath. He ducked down and put his arms behind him, allowing for Tsunami to get on his back. She got on his back and the two left to join the battle on the bridge.

Back at the bridge, Haku got himself ready for the next assault on Naruto. "Are you sure that you want to continue? If you do, I can't guarantee your life."

"I knew from the start that my life was on the line. I can take anything you throw at me."

"Very well. I do apologize Naruto. But you won't live past my next attack." Haku then proceeded to go through several hand signs. After he finished completing them he called out, "Secret jutsu, crystal ice mirrors." A dome containing several mirrors made out of ice surrounded Naruto. He then entered into one of the mirrors and soon after, all of the mirrors contained an image of the ninja.

_What the? So many of him, but which one's real? What is this? _Naruto tried to access the situation calmly before Haku launched his assault of senbon. Naruto really stood no chance against the initial barrage and was quickly made into a pincushion by Haku.

Outside the dome, Zabuza was chuckling and gloating about how good Haku was. "Heh, now you see why Haku is my apprentice. What you see is his bloodline. A dome of mirrors that is completely inescapable by anyone. No one, not even the most seasoned of jonin can escape it. Your student has no chance and Haku will kill him."

Mirage herself chuckled right back at Zabuza. "You may be right, that jutsu is formidable and nearly inescapable by most humans. But Naruto-kun is not any normal human. He is stronger in will then anybody I've ever seen. That added to the the Kyuubi sealed inside him makes him a difficult foe indeed."

Zabuza's eyes widened. "What? Are you telling me that Haku is in a fight with a jinchuriki?" Now Zabuza started to chuckle, which turned into a full blown laugh. "So a Valkyrie and a jinchuriki. The spoils of this victory continue to grow. If Haku can keep the boy alive then he'll be a great ally for when I take Kiri back from that tyrant of a Mizukage. They'll make a more formidable team then the Demon Brothers that they killed."

"Before you gloat Zabuza, let me remind you that Naruto-kun has more chakra collectedly then both of us combined. He'll be able to outlast your pupil for sure."

"Whatever you say lady. I think that it's time that we got our fight underway too. I've been waiting for a rematch." Zabuza removed his huge sword from his back, while Mirage used her chakra scalpels to cover her hands in chakra.

Naruto picked out all the senbon stuck in him from Haku's onslaught. He knew that he had to find some way to get around the trick that Haku was doing but he figured that this probably wasn't a trick. _Hmm, mirrors usually reflect an image, but if that were the case then the senbon wouldn't come at me from a different angle. If that's the case then maybe the mirrors duplicate him like a kagebunshin. Well if it's a kagebunshin war he wants then that's what he's gonna get._

Naruto made several of his kagebunshin to attack each Haku image that was there, but they were all cut down quickly. Naruto fell back and went right back to creating more kagebunshin. Again Haku was able to easily defeat them. Haku though could begin to feel his movements begin to lag. _So many of them always coming. He can't keep this up for long. I just have to outlast him._

Naruto again sent a horde of kagebunshin after the mirrors. Haku sighed and again destroyed all of them again. Haku though wasn't the only person though who began to notice the lag. _My kagebunshin are lasting longer then they used to. I just need to outlast him._ Naruto created more kagebunshin and again they were quickly destroyed, but one of them got close to touching one of the mirrors, meaning that Naruto was getting closer to getting out. He was exhausted though. He knew that he couldn't last too much longer like this.

Naruto went right back to work creating kagebunshins and this time one of them actually reached the mirror before getting picked off by Haku, meaning that indeed Haku was beginning to falter. And if he couldn't move fast enough to get him from the mirrors, then he may run out of chakra and the dome will collapse. He used another wave of kagebunshin, but this time, one of them was able to get a hand on Haku making him readjust in midair. Before settling back down and picking the rest of the clones off.

_What's going on? There's no way that he can continue to go on all this time. It's insane. Looking at him though, he's about to pass out from chakra exhaustion, but I'm close to my limit too. It's almost to the point to where I can't even keep these mirrors up much longer. Everything will come down to the next couple of exchanges. I must outlast him._

Naruto created another wave of kagebunshin and again Haku couldn't fend them all off. This time he was even hit a couple of times by the kagebunshin. All in time though, Naruto's assault was fended off, though now Haku's mask had been broken and he looked a little beaten up. Naruto for his part was dead tired. For him it felt like he could barely go on. His legs wobbled and he could barely see straight.

_He can't stay like this for much longer. He just can't. I'm getting so close that I can taste this ending closely. Just one more wave of kagebunshin and I got him. I just have to outlast him._

Naruto used another push of chakra and used most of his remaining reserves to create another wave of kagebunshin. After he created this batch he fell down to one knee and could only watch as Haku took a long time finishing this batch. He took another bunch of blows before he was able to defeat the kagebunshin. Naruto grunted and struggled his way back to his feet while Haku huffed and puffed and barely kept himself up.

_He was just down on one knee. He can't last too much longer. I need to finish this soon. I must outlast him._

_There's no way that he can keep these mirrors up for long. He's barely even moving fast anymore. I can see him. Just one more wave and this fight is over. I must outlast him._

Using every last bit of chakra left in his system, he created a final wave of kagebunshin before he dropped down to both knees and put his hands on the bridge. He could even tell that the number of kagebunshin that he used was much lower then the previous amounts. Naruto knew that he was done after this batch. If those mirrors still stood after this attack, then it was all over for him.

Haku sighed and attacked the clones with every last bit of chakra he had. These clones gave him a ton of trouble. He could barely make it out of a mirror before another clone was right on him. He took a pounding in every single one of his body parts before he finally took down the army of clones and sunk back into his mirror.

Naruto sunk his head as he knew that the fight was over. He was completely out of chakra and knew that he couldn't create any more kagebunshin and couldn't escape from the prison. He hung his head low and waited for Haku to launch the finishing blow. Just when he thought that the ending blow would come, he heard a noise from the outside. He looked up to see the mirror prison around him begin to collapse. Haku rushed out of the prison while Naruto also managed to barely get out before it collapsed.

Naruto barely got up back on his feet. Completely exhausted and ready to collapse, but still he was going for it. Haku was in a similar state, awed that anyone could use enough chakra to force him out of his ice mirrors. He readied a senbon in his hand, while Naruto readied a kunai in his. They both thought the same thing.

_This is it. The final strike. Everything that we fought for comes down to this. I must outlast him. _

The two ran at each other with everything left that they had and the two weapons met for the final struggle between the two. Each one pushed with everything they had left in an attempt to finish the other one off. They exchanged advantages several times and Haku had nearly gotten to the point of victory when Naruto began to think. Think about everything about him, who he was fighting for, the precious person that made him strong. Thoughts ran through his head, all of them revolving around the person that he found more precious then all of them, Ayame. He knew that he had to be there for her. He wanted to be there for her. Thinking solely about her and nothing else he was finally able to out will Haku and slice his kunai across Haku's chest, creating a huge wound.

Naruto again fell down on two knees and barely held himself up in support. Haku fell backwards, landing on his back and clutching the new wound that Naruto made in his chest. Haku was able to barely wheeze out these words.

"Zabuza-sama I failed you. Naruto, this wound (gasp) is not (gasp) deep enough. Finish (gasp) the job. Kill (gasp) me."

"Why Haku? Why do you want me to kill you?"

"Zabuza-sama, he's (gasp) my purpose. My reason (gasp) for (gasp) living. I have (gasp) failed him. My punishment (gasp) is death. Kill me."

"Why? What's so great about Zabuza that you would pledge everything to him?"

"You (gasp) don't understand. He gives me (gasp) a purpose. A purpose (gasp) as a tool. One that (gasp) would stay by him, (gasp) and guard him forever. I failed (gasp) as a tool and must die."

"I wish that it didn't have to come to this Haku." Naruto again willed himself up to his feet. "In a different time we could have been friends. We're alike you know." Naruto started to cry as he hobbled over to Haku. "I hope that you find inner peace on the other side Haku, my friend." Naruto jabbed his bloody kunai deep into Haku's open wound.

"Friend ... I ... like ... that." Haku closed his eyes for the final time before he passed on into the next life. Naruto cried openly now. This was the second person that he killed. Though, this time it was much harder. Killing someone that he thought of as a friend was much more difficult then killing a traitor that thought that he was an incarnation of the Kyuubi. He felt a hand on his shoulder and noticed it as Ayame's.

He turned into her shoulders and hugged her as both of them cried openly for Haku's death. Ayame also knew from past experience that Haku was a good and pure soul that was just killed. They stayed like that for a while until Lucien appeared into the area. He looked over the battleground and saw Haku's corpse laying there defenseless.

All of a sudden Haku's body glowed a gentle white shade and Lucien turned to it. Naruto and Ayame also looked to the dead body and wondered what was going on here. Lucien just stared at Haku's dead body, saying nothing for several minutes. After a while, Haku's body lost its gentle white glow and Lucien started to glow a gentle white. The glow lasted for a few seconds before Lucien suddenly collapsed. Ayame and Naruto stopped sobbing over Haku to examine their fallen teammate and friend, wondering what happened to him.

...

Whew. That was easily the longest fight scene I've ever written. Those who are familiar with VP know what happened at the end of the chapter. For those who don't it will be explained later on so don't worry.

I know that while this battle is going on, the battle between Zabuza and Mirage will also be going on. But I didn't want to break this fight up. Personally I hate broken up fights.

I figured that the stronger Naruto might be able to outlast Haku. It's a match-up thing you know. Without Sasuke there, I feel that Naruto would be able to dig down deep and pull out the energy needed to beat Haku. Especially with the extra training he got from Kushina/Mirage.

Yes the kiss finally happened. Again, I didn't plan on this to happen for a while, but everyone who writes knows that stories have lives of their own and things never go according to plan.

Thank you all for reading my latest installment.

Next Chapter: Kushina's True Face

Expected Release: Sunday August 17

Please Review.


	8. Mirage's true face

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 8: Kushina's True Face

Wow got a ton of feedback from the last fight scene. I thought that it was alright when I wrote it but didn't think that you'd like it that much. Well let me start with the usual.

Blitzfury: Yes and yes to your first comments. Well if you remember the Demon Brothers fight. Lucien used Alicia's first soul crush. As far as your other question, I haven't really thought that far ahead yet so I can't really answer it.

DeExil: Thanks a ton for that bro. Hey have a ton of fun, though by the time you read this you'll probably already be back. I must say, writing is a blast to do.

Alone shadow dream: Hate broken fights. I could write a full 5K on how much I hate broken fights.

Joseph33759: Without using Kyuubi it would be tough. Too bad though cause we'll never know.

Atlantis-rob: Thanks a lot bro. Well it's here. Hope ya like it.

Where r my chips: Yeah I thought so too when I first wrote it but I like this version better anyway.

2 chapters left in the Wave arc counting this one. This one will feature the rematch between Zabuza and Mirage/Kushina. Well let's roll.

I don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile. Property of Kisimoto and Square-enix respectively.

...

Mirage and Zabuza stood apart from each other while Naruto and Haku battled it out in the ice dome. Zabuza made the first move by charging fast right at Mirage, with his giant sword ready to strike. He swung it down at her while she backpedaled away, but Zabuza wanted none of that. He again picked his sword up and charged her. Mirage dodged the attack with a duck and tried to trip Zabuza up. He stabbed the ground with his sword so Mirage would kick his cleaver instead of him. He then punched at Mirage, who couldn't react in time and was hit away across the bridge.

Zabuza picked his sword back up from the ground while Mirage nursed her now sore jaw. "Heh, I got your number lady. You don't stand a chance this time around." Mirage just chuckled right back at him.

"This fight hasn't even started yet Zabuza." She charged her hands back up and sped right after Zabuza. She launched punch after punch directed at different parts of the man's body. Even though she was much faster then he was, she couldn't land a single hit on the man. He parried, blocked or outright dodged every single attack possible. After another punch that he dodged, he kicked her in the stomach sending her far away from him.

"I told you that you can't beat me this time. You former whirlpool ninjas are great at nothing and terrible at nothing. What that means is that if I fight you using my best skill and nothing else, then you can't win. You fought my strength with superior speed and I second guessed myself allowing you to play me the way that you wanted to. However I know your game and you can't win."

"You're right at least almost right. You see right now I'm only at, say seventy-five percent of my maximum." Zabuza's eyes widened before he started to laugh.

"You're bluffing. You have no reason to hide such power from me."

Now it was Mirage's turn to laugh. "If memory serves you remember my bloodline yes?" Zabuza nodded while asking what the point was. "Well doing so allows for a perfect transformation of anything I've seen once. However doing so takes about a quarter of every part of my true stats. So when I show you my true self I'll be at maximum."

Zabuza looked shocked. He could tell that she wasn't bluffing at all. Even at seventy-five percent he had trouble avoiding her blows. Now he had to deal with something so much faster.

"Ready Zabuza? You said you wanted to see my true face. Well behold." A small poof was seen and before Zabuza stood a woman that stood at about 5'7" with long red hair flowing down her back. She had on a long red skirt with red chest armor exposing her arms. At her side was a standard sized katana.

Zabuza was floored. He recognized that face in an instant, but he didn't believe it. _No. Impossible. She can't be here. She died over twelve years ago. Kushina Uzumaki. _

"So Zabuza it would seem that you recognize me. Do you still wish to go on?"

"No. Zabuza Momochi never gives up on anything. Not even to bombshell Kushina. The beauty of a angel, but the attitude of a tiger."

Ayame was confused. She knew that somewhere had had heard of Bombshell Kushina, but couldn't place the name. She did have to admit though that their sensei was a pretty person. She watched as Kushina drew her sword out and began her assault of Zabuza.

Zabuza never stood a chance against Kushina's speed. She attacked him with so much speed that he was quickly forced back on defense. He used every maneuver that he could think of to try to avoid her, but she was much too tenacious. Eventually Kushina hit Zabuza with a kick right in the chest forcing him back.

_That attack, it's so strong. One kick and I'm down. Kenjutsu won't work on her but what else can I do? My genjutsu isn't anything great, and my ninjutsu she's beaten in her weaker state. I need to get back on offense and take her down._

Zabuza picked his cleaver back up and attacked Kushina as if his life was hanging in the balance. She was able to easily and gracefully dodge every attack possible. Zabuza was getting flustered and he just started swinging his sword wildly. Kushina parried his sword and knocked it far away from his body and all the way across the bridge.

Zabuza jumped back and did all the seals for his vortex jutsu. Kushina jumped over the vortex and did a flip in the air before landing right in front of Zabuza and kicked him into the railing of the bridge. With the extra space Zabuza did the seals for his dragon and had it attack Kushina as well. She stuck her sword out and had it meet the dragon head-on causing it to disappear. In a last ditch effort, Zabuza used a more seals then Kushina had barely ever seen before while releasing an enormous amount of chakra. "If I go down Kushina, you're going down as well. Water style, hurricane jutsu."

An enormous amount of water and wind appeared with Zabuza at its center. He started to laugh insanely. "Do you like it Kushina? My special hurricane, a fierce collection of wind and water with enough force itself to destroy not only this bridge but everything here. Nothing can stop it."

Realizing the dangers of what Zabuza was doing Kushina knew that she needed to kill Zabuza now. _This jutsu is a suicide jutsu easy. He uses all of his available reserves to create the hurricane killing him and everything in a what seems to be a ten-mile radius, a true hurricane. However, the hurricane is still forming even though the jutsu is complete. Right now it will only effect the area around the two of us. I must kill Zabuza now._

Kushina pulled out her sword and rushed right into Zabuza and the wind he was creating. The wind was pushing her back even though she was desperately trying to get through. "Heh you think that you could actually get through the hurricane. You can't. Everything on this bridge will soon be reduced to rubble." _Hopefully Haku can get out though. My tool he may be, but maybe if he gets away from this bridge he can get away. After all I don't need him anymore._

Kushina continued to push into the hurricane and was inching close to Zabuza at the center. The winds were picking up and ripped through her. It took everything that she had to continue to attempt to get through the hurricane Zabuza was creating. With a final lunge, Kushina stabbed her sword through the stomach of Zabuza and the winds and water went back to normal. Zabuza fell to the ground with her sword in his stomach.

"Kushina (gasp) you got me. As a (gasp) final request rest my (gasp) body near (gasp) Haku."

"Will do Zabuza. You know even in the end, your heart rests with Haku. I bet that you thought of him as a son, even though you never told him. Maybe, just maybe Zabuza, Lenneth-sama will have mercy on your soul and you can be reborn."

After the fall of Zabuza the fog surrounding the area began to disappear and Lucien appeared with Tazuna's daughter on his back. A sword attached to the belt of both people.

"Where's Naruto and the hunter at?" Lucien asked Ayame.

"He wanted to take him alone. He said that he understood him completely and that he had to fight him." Ayame said.

"Go to him. I'll stay here. He may need your help."

Ayame left to go to Naruto leaving Kushina, Lucien, Tazuna, and Tsunami together. "So Kushina-sensei, I see that you revealed your true self again. Did you do it for Zabuza or your son?"

"Zabuza forced it out of me. He was too much for my hidden form so I had to escape it. Ayame may have seen it in the fog and heard Zabuza mention my nickname and Naruto-kun fought the hunter the whole time. Why did you bring Tazuna's daughter here?"

"Something big's going down. Gato sent thugs after his family just as you expected and that means that he's gonna form an all-out attack on the bridge. How do things look from our end?"

"Not good. Naruto-kun and myself aren't in any condition and I doubt that you and Ayame could take on a mob of thugs by yourselves."

"I figured as much. I had Inari, the gaki, try to round up a posse of villagers to drive of a potential mob but I don't know if they'll actually fight or lay down like lambs to the slaughter." Lucien then felt something odd. Like something was drawing him close to Naruto's position, even though the fog hasn't cleared up, something drew him in that direction. _This feeling. It's a soul. A pure soul that's been recently killed. That could only be three people, Naruto, which I hope it's not, Ayame, unlikely because she got there, or the hunter. He did has an aura of purity about him. I need to check this out._

"Lucien what's going on? You seem troubled."

"I sense a soul, a fresh, pure, and strong one. Coming from the area where your son was." Lucien stoically said. Kushina's face flushed in pure horror. She knew that it was no bluff by Lucien. She didn't know though if she wanted to see or not. She just couldn't bear to see her son dead. "Don't worry Kushina-sensei, I'll check it out."

Lucien left the area leaving a worried group of people, but none more worried then Kushina. The fog was still in the process of lifting and she couldn't bear to see what happened. After a small bit of time the fog lifted enough that they all could see the entire area of the bridge and she could finally witness the after effects of the battle between Naruto and the hunter.

The first sight that greated her was the hunter. He had a kunai sticking out of his stomach and covered in blood. That meant that he was the one who died and not her son but the hunter. She let out an audible sigh of relief and tears of happiness went down her cheeks. The next thing that she witnessed was Naruto unable to stand and being completely supported by Ayame. The final sight that beheld her was Lucien passed out on the ground being stared at by Naruto and Ayame. Kushina shook her head and sighed.

_He actually did it. And what a time. Oh well it looks like we have a team of four now. I guess that Zabuza's apprentice really did have as pure of a soul as my team said._

That's when Kushina heard it. She heard the laughter of a man. She turned around and was greeted by a short man with glasses surrounded by a mob of thugs.

"So it looks like Zabuza wasn't able to get the job done after all. It's a shame really, and I would have paid him a big enough bounty to host his little coup anyway. At least that is if I actually intended on paying him. For that I owe you my gratitude lady." Gato, the short man said.

"So I take it that you're Gato then. The man responsible for the state of Wave. The fact that you thank me makes me want to throw up."

"Look lady, I need to kill that builder, so if you kindly step aside, I can promise you that your life and your team's life will be spared. What do you say? Deal?"

"As if a promise from you means anything. Just like you promised Zabuza? Your promises are a pile of shit and you're just one big shit stain. So you can take your tiny pathetic ass home now, or I'll go over there and beat you worse that you'll wish you died." Kushina yelled.

"Oh so you got a mouth on ya bitch? Well then I decline my gracious offer. Men kill the boys and keep the women. Especially the redhead. Whoever kills the boys get the first run at the redhead. Men attack!" Gato commanded.

Naruto tried to get up but finally passed out from chakra exhaustion. Ayame got up and took a defensive stance right in front of Naruto. Kushina and Tsunami got out their swords and took a defensive stance as well. Before the bandits got up, Lucien got up from his faint and stood on his feet with a determined look on his face.

"Gato, you have defiled the souls of the living and cause a disturbance in the the world of mortals. For this you must die." Lucien flashed through a bunch of hand seals releasing more chakra then he ever had. "Valkyrie style, einhajar materialization."

A bright light shone from Lucien's body, and from that light, Haku appeared good as new. Like he had never even been in a fight today and he looked pissed. He joined Lucien in glaring at Gato. Gato merely laughed.

"So you're alive are you? Well just like a when a master dies his dog is soon to follow. It makes it worth betraying Zabuza just to see your pitiful face wither in despair."

"So, you planned a betrayal the whole time." Haku spoke with a cold tone. Yet that same tone sent shivers down everybody's spine. "Zabuza-sama fought and died for the work you never even intended to pay us. For this you must die."

Haku took out a few senbon and chucked them right at Gato. He never even stood a chance. The senbon pierced his body at several locations but none of them were vitals. "You see Gato, those senbon were laced with a type of disease. A disease that will very quickly separate your tissues and destroy your body from the inside out. A most painful death for the most evil of souls. Have fun in judgment Gato."

All the mercenaries looked in shock as Gato fell to the ground howling in agonizing pain. He then did the most desperate of things, he jumped off the bridge and into the water plummeting to his death. The thugs looked at the fallen Gato.

"Hey he just dropped our meal ticket. Let's get them." One of the bandits shouted. Haku and Lucien entered into a defensive stance. _This isn't good. I used up too much chakra in materializing Haku and now I'm at my limit. Haku is fresh in his materialized body as well to deal with this many. Plus Naruto is down for the count, and Kushina-sensei is also running low. This could be it._

All of a sudden a bolt from an arrow hit in front of the group of bandits and they were stunned to see the entire village and then some armed with weapons and ready to fight. Seeing that they were outnumbered the bandits ran off. Some of them ran into the mob where they were either killed or severely hurt. Some of them ran at team one where they were either killed by Lucien, Haku, or Kushina. Even Ayame took a couple of them out, but mainly she was on guard duty. After a rout of the bandits, the people of Wave and team one celebrated victory.

It wasn't until long after the bandits fled when Ayame decided to ask Lucien just what the heck was going on. Lucien just simply answered, "Wait until Naruto wakes up. I'll explain everything then."

Naruto woke up sore in every part of his body. It felt like someone threw him off the hokage monument and then had a group of sumo wrestlers landing on top of the remains. The first thing he saw when he woke up was a blurry figure changing the cloths on top of his head. The figure had long black hair split up on the sides of their face and a blue kimono. Upon further review the one nursing him back to health was none other then Haku, the ninja who he thought he killed a couple of days ago. Naruto was shocked at first and then he remembered just who his teammate was.

"Ok Lucien that's not funny. Haku was a good soul and it killed me to kill him." Naruto grunted out, still in pain.

"But I am Haku."

"No you're not. You're my idiot teammate who's trying to be funny be looking like you." Naruto now pointed at Haku as another figure entered the room.

"Hey you're up bout time too." Lucien said leaning on the side of the door. Naruto was shocked to see this. If Lucien was Lucien then Haku was Haku. But Haku was dead.

"S-so are you a g-g-ghost who's come to haunt me for k-k-k-killing him." Naruto leaned back and put his arms in front of him as if that would repel the spirit of the dead Haku. Lucien laughed loudly and even Haku chuckled.

"No he's not a ghost, but he is dead."

"What does that mean? If he's not a ghost and is dead then what is he?"

"An einhajier." Mirage said entering the door. She was back in her perfect henge. "A being who died but they were pure at heart and so their soul was given another chance to live, by serving the host. Think of it as Haku's spirit inside a kagebunshin only permanent."

"I don't get it." Naruto said.

"Sensei, can you bring Ayame here? I think it's time that I came clean on my bloodline." Lucien asked.

Mirage nodded and soon after, Ayame joined Naruto, Lucien, Haku, and Mirage in the room. They all sat down in a circle except for Naruto who was still laying down. At Naruto's left was Ayame and Haku sat at her left. Lucien sat at Haku's left and Mirage sat between Lucien and Naruto. Lucien began.

"All right let me start at the beginning, who here has heard of the Valkyries?" Only Haku and Mirage raised their hands.

"Wait a minute." Ayame interrupted. "Zabuza said something at the bridge about a Valkyrie. Are you one of them?"

"Something like that I guess. Anyway a Valkyrie is what is commonly referred to as the shingami. What the shinigami does is choose the following for a soul. They can either pass the soul on to Asgard, or Heaven, or Nifelhiem what you know as Hell. But there is a third option, they can help the soul regain its power so it can be reborn right into its former body. Haku is one such case."

"So are you a shingami?" Naruto asked.

"No I'm not. I'm a decedent of one. Somewhere along the line of time, one of the three Valkyries fell in love with a human and the result was my first ancestor, Platina. She fell in love and then my clan was born."

"So how exactly does this whole give the soul its power back thing work?" Ayame asked.

"I keep the soul inside my body. Then I use the power of Yggdrasil to give the new body power. Because normal humans can't use Yggdrasil's power, I need to be close to act as a sort of buffer. My body absorbs the energy and transfers it to the temporary vessel. The body uses that to live and create more chakra. Once the soul is back up to full strength, I can release it and the human is reborn just as strong as they were when they died."

"That's so cool. Why would you keep such an awesome power hidden from us?" Naruto asked.

"Not everybody thinks the same way you do. Certain people thought that our abilities made us to be a threat to the village. If we were to launch a coup, we would have succeeded."

"What do you mean would have?" Ayame asked.

"It was one of the things that Sandaime did that even to this day he regrets." Mirage answered. "You see, Konoha is split up into two parts, shinobi and citizen. The citizens loved the Valkyries and embraced them into their lives. The shinobi though feared them and gave Sandaime an ultimatum. They go, or we go. Sandaime couldn't risk that so he gradually sent the Valkyries out to be killed until there were three left."

Naruto and Ayame were stunned. Lucien's clan had been wiped out and he could do nothing about it. Even more, he accepted it and didn't thirst for revenge. It was shocking. "Sensei, who were those three?" Ayame asked.

"Me and my parents are the last three. When they found out about what was going on, they hid me and my powers, putting me up for adoption when I was young. After they hid me though they did something that would change the entire fate of Konoha as we know it."

"What did they do?" Ayame asked.

"They along with two ANBU and an unknown person, slaughtered the Uchiha clan."

Naruto, Ayame, even Haku couldn't believe this part. "But why the Uchiha? Why not another clan?" Naruto asked.

"A lesson. You see among the clans, a few of them accepted us. Hyuuga, Akimichi, Aburame, they accepted us as we were. Sure our blood was better then theirs but they accepted it as divine and didn't want to risk upsetting Lenneth-sama. Uchiha on the other hand were the ones that wanted our blood the most. So their fate was decided."

"So it was your clan that would do something like that? And are you proud of it?" Naruto yelled.

"Of course I'm not proud of it. But what can I do about it? Nothing. It happened in the past and we need to atone for our sins, not blame others for our struggles in life. We need to move ahead and take responsibility for what we did, not our ancestors or those who wronged us." Lucien yelled back. Naruto smiled a bit at this. He knew right where the boy was coming from. Him being rejected all his life for something that he couldn't control.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear from you. Is that why you can't stand Sasuke, or because he's a member of the clan who was responsible for your clans destruction?"

"Mostly the first. But a little added on to that, I guess jealousy. I mean Sasuke could probably get a ton of leeway because of his bloodline. Me however, I can't. He acts like his life is the toughest around, but to be honest, he probably had an easier life then all but one."

"Well, I'm glad that you confided in us Lucien. To be honest I have a secret too." Naruto said.

"Naruto-kun, are you sure that you want to tell him that? I mean you haven't told anyone that?" Ayame asked. She put her hand on his shoulder

"Yeah. I think I do Ayame-chan. Lucien what do you know about Kyuubi?" Lucien was a bit perplexed at the question but had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"You mean the entity that attacked all those years ago, yeah. Iruka-sensei only hammered the story into our heads like eighty billion times."

"Well it's not true. Yondaime didn't kill it. He ... he sealed it into an infant. Me." Naruto turned his head so he couldn't see Lucien's reaction.

"That makes a lot of sense. I knew something was off about the story but why didn't anyone else know this?" Lucien said.

"You mean, you don't hate me and think I'm a demon because I contain it." Naruto was on the verge of tears and Lucien would laugh if he was completely devoid of tact.

"You're talking to someone who takes souls of the dead and puts them into his own body. It would be stupid calling you Kyuubi. That'd be like calling me a certain mist ninja."

"Heh forgot about that. Thanks Lucien, you really are a good friend."

"Yeah yeah, don't get used to it okay. This nice side will go away the next time I catch your tongue down Ayame's throat alright?"

_Maybe. Just maybe I should expose myself here too. _Mirage thought. "I too have something I want to share. It's private though so Lucien and Haku, you both know this so you can leave." Lucien and Haku both left the room leaving the three while Mirage showed her true self to the three.

"This is my true form." Kushina started. "About twelve years ago, I gave birth to a son, my second child. Soon after, my husband and love of my life, died leaving me with my child alone. But things didn't stop there. A woman, jealous that I bore two kids of my husband tried to kill my child to punish me for stealing her man. Even though I was weak I got in the way of the attack and died. My friend then turned me into an einhajier and left the village soon after."

"So you're like Haku then?" Naruto asked.

"Well I was. About five years ago, my soul was released and I ended up back in Konoha. I was so thrilled to be back so I could see my son again. I thought that we could at last be reunited. Soon after though, I saw my son tortured and scorned. I heard a villager tell them that my son was just a worthless piece of garbage whose whore of a mother dropped him somewhere."

Naruto and Ayame tensed. Kushina was barely able to hold it together while Ayame wasn't faring any better. Naruto, who was always slow on the uptake was beginning to piece everything together. "It was then that I knew that if I returned to his side and took him up he would be in more danger then ever before. So I assumed the identity of an ANBU and used my bloodline as a disguise so I could protect him from anyone. Naruto-kun, I don't know if you can forgive what I did, but please I'm asking you as your mother to forgive me." Kushina got on her hands and knees on front of Naruto, who was also bawling in an attempt to forgive her.

Naruto didn't know what to do or think. He knew that she could have tried to save him and be there for him at any time and yet she relented. And yet, he knew that all this time, his mother didn't think that he was demon scum and that she loved him with everything she had and was only doing what she thought was best. After he composed himself a bit, he talked to her.

"I don't know what to say. But I know this, you did what you thought was best, if I agree with you or not you did what you thought was right and I forgive you Kaa-san." Kushina jumped onto Naruto and hugged the life out of him, which hurt tremendously considering the damage that he did. "Kaa-san, can't breathe." Kushina got up and looked sheepishly.

...

Holy crap was that sappy. I was a bit uncertain with that last scene how Naruto would react to his mother appearing. But I say that his character would act like this. Keep this in mind, Naruto doesn't really ever think about what happened in the past just the present. I don't think that it would change for his mother.

So everyone revealed their secrets of team one. I'm not quite sure if the Valkyrie part made sense or not. I guess I'll let reviews decide that.

One chapter left in Wave and that will tie up the odds and ends in Wave. After that we're in the chunin exams. Which means, oh yeah fight scene carnival.

I realize that this fight was kinda lame compared to the last fight, but hey what can you do.

As for how Kushina dealt with Zabuza so easily that too will be explained next chapter. I kept Haku alive cause he/she, however you want to look at him/her, is cool. Among my favs so sue me okay. Trust me, I have nothing that you want anyway so go for it.

I've been writing mostly nights ever since I started so I'm gonna take tomorrow night off completely and kick it back up Monday night. So the chapter will be a tiny bit later then usual but not much.

Next Chapter: Who is Platina

Projected Release: Thursday August 21st

Thank you so much for reading.

Please review.


	9. Who is Platina?

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 9- Who is Platina?

Ah I feel refreshed. Everything close around me is closed due to the tropical storm so I had plenty of time to just sit back and think about the upcoming chapters. Before I do that let me respond to my new record of 8 reviews.

Alone shadow dream: Thanks a lot.

Blitzfury: The first will be answered here. Definitely though past the time where the Ragnarok in VP:l was supposed to be. As far as Asly/Hrist is concerned, she will appear in the future but not in FOD.

Atlantis-rob: Lucien's back story is made up by me with VP elements mixed in. Kushina is made entirely up by me.

Scione: No not Sakura's mom in this case. I try hard not to bash characters just put them the way I see them. Oh I hate when the OC gets all the power. Lucien will be strong, but no Naruto will be the strongest of team one Kushina included. Good question though.

Windscar: Don't sell yourself short bro, you did a good job.

Tutcat: Thaks a lot.

Joseph: I may like writing fluff a little bit but sappy just ugh. Does that make sense? No problem it's me giving back to those who review.

DeExil: Wow talk about lucky huh. Tell me about it, my laptop and free hotspots are how I won my fantasy football league last year. No problem, thanks for the awesome reviews.

WARNING!! VALKYRIE PROFILE SPOILERS WILL BE APPEARING IN THIS CHAPTER!!

Here ends the Wave arc, I've been counting down the days. So yeah that rocks.

Another note, I will be starting up college again next week so my releases won't be quite as fast and a lot more unpredictable. I've been regular so far but when school starts well, you know.

Ok enough with the notes and on with the show.

I lied, I don't own Naruto or VP, property of Kishimoto and Square-enix yadda yadda yadda.

...

The group had been in Wave for a few weeks since the fight on the bridge. During that time the five got to know each other better and trained while getting much stronger. Haku even joined in to help others with their faults.

A couple of bandits and former thugs had tried to attack Tazuna on the bridge, but the attacks were easily taken care of by the guarding shinobi at the time whether it be Lucien and Haku, or Naruto and Ayame. Of course Lucien made sure to make his usual remarks about Naruto and Ayame's relationship. The two officially started dating a couple of days after the fight. Kushina and Naruto also grew much closer as Naruto now opted to call her kaa-sensei.

Kushina was now starting to diversify her team a bit more, teaching them some more specialized techniques. She began teaching Lucien just how to correctly wield a sword. He was a natural with handling one. With Naruto she started to teach him how to use their bloodline. Naruto was getting better with it but still struggled to copy somebody just by seeing them once. Also he could only use about half of his power while transformed unlike Kushina who could use eighty percent. During this time, Haku taught Ayame more about pressure points for her submission techniques. They also figured out that Ayame needed some long range attacks to match her close combat skills. She wanted to use a bow. She still remembers the discussion that occurred when she said that she wanted to use a bow.

FLASHBACK

"_A bow? Are you sure that you want to use a bow Ayame-chan?" Naruto asked her._

"_Yes I do Naruto-kun. The bow has a longer range of attack then kunai or shuriken. Plus the arc of the bow itself would compliment my submissions. I think that it would be a good idea."_

"_I'm not certain either Ayame-san. Bow users have decreased in number with the more common use of senbon and kunai. Finding a master to instruct you would be difficult plus the reload time takes a little too long to be as effective as you would like." Haku added._

"_I don't know, I think she has a decent idea. I mean with bow users decreasing, it would give us a tactical advantage in a fight since dealing with a bow user is not common. Besides, plenty of stong people have wielded a bow before." Lucien said._

"_Name one." Kushina asked._

"_Silmeria-sama. One of the three shinigami, ring a bell?" Lucien asked._

"_Wait if one of the Valkyries used a bow, do you have any scrolls or anything on advanced bow usage?" Ayame asked._

"_No idea really. In my ancestors time, bow usage was very common I might have something in there but if I did find anything, the info may be illegible. But I could check for you."_

FLASHBACK END

Inari heard about this and asked one of the people in town if they could help Ayame out. The shop keeper quickly agreed and made Ayame a nice bow with arrows included. Her bow was a draw string bow made out a fine rust free metal. The string was also made of a fine material. She had the shaft of the bow painted purple with the swirl of Konoha where the arrow shoots.

Wave itself had also started on the path to recovery. After Gato died, a search party went out to find Gato's cache of money and supplies. While they never did find the main cache yet, they did find a few deserted bandit camps, where they felt free to partake in a few of the left behind spoils of victory.

But, good things couldn't last forever and team one had to leave the place that hosted them for the past month, The people of Wave gave them a huge send off consisting of all the villagers with Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari at the peak.

"Are you sure you all have to go?" Inari pouted.

"Yeah you know we need to get back and everything. I'll miss ya Inari." Naruto said as he ruffled Inari's hair.

"You all did so much for us. You're welcome here anytime." Tazuna told the team.

"We may have to take you up on that Tazuna-san." Kushina replied.

"Bye Naruto nee-san, Lucien nee-san, Haku-neechan, Ayame-neechan, and Kushina-sama." Inari shouted out. Team one then left over the bridge to the mainland where they went on to face their next challenge.

"I told him that I'm a boy." Haku said.

"Yes but he thinks otherwise." Lucien replied.

After team one had left the area of the bridge, chatter began to erupt amugst the people of Wave.

"So dad, what do you want to call the bridge?" Tsunami asked. Tazuna just smirked.

"The Great Naruto Bridge. An unshakable force like the people of Wave. He gave the people courage and as such deserves such an honor. Someday the world will know his name because of what he accomplishes. I also suggest our next project, Ichiraku Port, bulid Valkyrie Square, and Kushina Square." The people of Wave roared in approval.

Meanwhile, Lenneth walked along the halls of Valhalla where Rufus reigned. Valhalla was a large open palace with white floors and an elegant red carpet. Before long, she reached the hall of the Water Mirror, a gigantic mirror overlooking Rufus's throne. She kneeled in front of him.

Rufus himself was a tall man. He had long green hair pulled down to his lower back, and a red headband over his forehead. He had green armor over his chest and shoulders and a skintight white shirt over his arms, and brown pants. On his feet were green boots and brown gloves.

On his right was his wife Alicia. She had long blond hair that stopped just south of her shoulders. Her eyes shined with a gentle soft blue. She had a brown shirt over her chest area with long white sleeves covering the rest of her upper body. Covering her lower body was a blue skirt and long brown boots. She also had a sword strapped to her side, and a large red ring on her left hand.

At his right was his aide Freya. She wore a green leotard which exposed her long legs. Her hair was long and blond and reached down to her middle back. Her arms were guarded by green guards but left her hands open. Long, green boots covered her lower legs. She also had a green and white hat on top of her head.

"Lenneth, you're back so soon. Is everything alright on Midgard?" Rufus asked.

"Actually some troubling news has reached my attention. While casualties among the mortals has stayed relatively the same, the number of souls has very slightly increased. Also I have discovered a possible infidelity among one the the three Valkyries." All three members of the room raised their eyes in surprise.

"And what makes you think that Lenneth?" Freya wondered.

"I discovered a human on Midgard named Lucien. All signs point towards the fact that he has a power similar to the Valkyries."

"What do you mean Lenneth?" Freya again asked.

"He has the power to draw on Yggdrasil's power and take einhajar for his own purpose. He shows no sign of being even partially undead so that takes Silmeria out of the question. I've also never had relations with anyone so I'm also taken out of the picture. That just leaves one."

Alicia looked at Rufus as did Freya. "You all knew of this didn't you? You knew what Hrist did?" Lenneth asked.

"Yes and no respectively." Rufus started.

"Rufus-sama, is it best to reveal this?" Freya asked.

"I think so." Alicia began. "It's time she knew. She's the only one who doesn't know, and we hid it from her for much too long."

"What's going on? What is everybody hiding from me?"

"He's your descendant Lenneth." Rufus stated.

"Impossible. I've never done such an act, especially with a human."

"You did. Well an alternate version of you did anyway." Rufus said.

"An alternate me? Is that even possible?"

Rufus rubbed his head, he knew that this would be difficult to explain to her. "Yes. About a hundred years before the original Ragnrok happened, a different you, a you from the future appeared. This version of you knew everything about Ragnarok and had even more power then me or Freya. That's how the other you appeared."

"But why and how even could another me appear?"

"Dipan created a time machine which a powerful and dangerous mage used to try to create his own world. The you from the future came back to stop him once and for all. She did, but in the process me, Hrist, Silmeria, and herself had to merge into one body." Alicia explained.

"Was this around the time Odin-sama died?" Freya's head turned to the side after this. Even after all this time, the woman still missed the former lord.

"Yes it was. Anyway, the Lenneth from the future was reborn and eventually became known as Platina." Rufus told her.

"Platina? That human Lucien mentioned that name. He said that she was the first person in his clan to have the powers."

"That is correct. Lenneth, or now I'll call her Platina, had all her memories from the future, from the events that led to the original Ragnarok, to the traitor who would cause it, to everything related to her lover Lucian." Rufus explained.

"So the incident involving Loki was all this woman, a me from a different future?"

"Yes. Originally Platina was supposed to have died from inhaling the Weeping Lilly Pollen, but with everything she knew, she was able to avoid that fate and live a normal life as a human. They had a couple of children before we found them again. We took the two of them away, because we needed their knowledge and power to stop the future and they accepted but they asked that the children be left behind and alone. So we did, we faked their deaths and took them to Valhalla."

"Why would they leave their kids behind though?"

"Platina said that they are human and they need to live human lives. We never even knew if they would have Valkyrie powers or not until your report."

"Does this explain why Hrist was summoned a few years ago?"

"Yes. He didn't have Valkyrie blood so it cost the man his soul and became one of her einhajiar. Apparently Platina left knowledge behind to her children which explained everything to them. They now know about all of us but the knowledge seems to be still kept under wraps."

"I see. May I leave now Rufus-sama. I need some time to think this over."

"Take your time Lenneth. Take as much time to think as you need. I'll send Hrist out to Midgard to cover your job in the meantime."

Lenneth bowed and left the hall leaving just the three people.

"Are you sure that it was wise to inform Lenneth about Platina?" Freya asked.

"Yes she had to know. Who knows, maybe this will be good for her. Maybe she'll finally get laid after all these years and loosen up." Rufus joked.

"Surely you don't mean that?"

"Alicia, Silmeria, and you are the three easiest to get along with and the less cold. Is it a coincidence that you three are all also getting some? Heck even Hrist mellowed out a bit after her fling."

"Lenneth is ... cold. She always has been since I've known her. She has feelings but represses them to the point to where she needs to just let them out. I think that Rufus is right, she needs to find someone, anyone to be with." Alicia said.

Team one walked the way back to Konoha talking cheerfully. Naruto and Ayame held hands the entire way there while Lucien and Haku talked a bit about training techniques and theory. Along the way, not a single enemy attacked the group. They made in back to the village in about two days.

"Hey Kushina-sensei, what are we gonna do about Haku? I mean if hokage-sama figures out about my power ..."

"Lucien you are in no shape to debrief this mission. As your sensei I forbid you from going in there to debrief. You're much too tired and injured." Kushina said.

"But Kushina sensei I feel fine."

"Do you want me to make you tired and injured or will you take my word for it?" Lucien paled and backed away from Kushina.

"You know all of a sudden, I do feel tired and weary."

"Thought so. Now everyone, you can't let anyone in the village know about my identity. For my safety along with all of you. We're about an hour away from the village so I'll go back to being Mirage for now."

"I have a question Kushina-sama." Haku started. "I heard about your story but exactly who knows about your true state."

Kushina looked towards the group and smiled at them all. "Let's put it this way, if you take everybody that knows aside from me and add one, you get the number of major ninja villages."

"So that means that even the hokage doesn't know about your real face." Ayame said.

"Yes. Here is a lesson that all of you need to know, though I think that Haku knows this lesson already. Just because someone live in an allied or enemy village, doesn't make them allies or enemies. There are a few people even around the hokage that cannot be trusted. The one who killed me was my best friend, at least I thought she was. Instead, she only used me to get closer to my husband and be a family friend. Then, when I died, she would be a family friend and take care of you Naruto-kun. At least that was her plan before he died. After his death, she blamed me for it and wanted me to suffer by killing you. She was very close to the hokage and still is to this day. That's why nobody must know about me."

"What is her name kaa-sensei?" Naruto said, with his eyes turning into a dull red shade. He was clearly getting more and more upset by the second.

"It's best that you don't know Naruto-kun. Just trust me on this one, when the time comes, just let me take care of her. I have a little score to settle with her myself."

Team one soon arrived into Konoha and Lucien immediately went into the apartment he lived in his whole life. It was in an alright part of town where most of the civilians lived. He was left a nice little chunk of change by his parents, so he could at least maintain his own health until he was able to live alone without any help. It was a simple one room with a living area, kitchen, and bathroom. Since Haku really had nothing, Lucien sent him out to pick some stuff up with some of his inheritance.

Team one stood right in front of the hokage as they got debriefed from their latest mission. They told him the whole story from when they killed the Demon Brothers, to when Mirage fought Zabuza, but Gato's betrayal led to Zabuza getting away. Mirage lied effortlessly and Naruto was in awe at his mother's silk tongue.

_It's amazing. She's barely even told one lie. She's using what really happened to create a misleading report for jiji. Kaa-sensei is awesome._

"I see. Well done then team one. I see that you gave us the gauntlets of the Demon Brothers, so we'll turn them into Kiri to make sure that they are authentic and then we'll pay you for the bounty. Well I'll give you all the day off and if your other teammate is recovering well, we'll see about giving you another C-ranked mission, though it will be a much easier one then the one you just went on."

"Thank you hokage-sama. May we go then?" Mirage asked.

"Yes, you are dismissed."

Some time after the team left, a young woman entered the hokage's office. She had long, flowing blond hair that reached her lower back. She had on typical jonin wear with the green vest, anbu pants, and the sandals. Her eyes were a a dull green and her face was absolutely beautiful.

"Here is some more paperwork hokage-sama." She noticed the hokage's face seemed a bit off. He didn't fight her or groan when the endless stacks of paper were delivered. "Is something wrong?"

"No it's nothing Yuri, just something about one of the gennin teams has me a bit unnerved. Something about them seems off yet I don't know what it could be."

"What exactly seems off Hokage-sama?"

"For starters, they are easily now the best overall team of gennin that we have in every phase. Their time per D-rank is tops among gennin that we ever had. Plus the three of them were able to take down the Demon Brothers of Kiri."

"How is that a problem hokage-sama. With Kyuubi inside the blonde, who happened to be his child, they should be more then able to take care of such a team, even a group of vicious chunin."

"No I sensed no use of his chakra. Plus their sensei. Somethings off about her but I can't place it. It's like she herself is a mirage. Like she's hiding something big, but I can't tell what. She's so calm and collected it's impossible to tell what she's thinking, if she's even telling the truth. Somethings off but I don't know what."

"I've felt that before too hokage-sama. Even when Nato-kun and I were just gennin he had that same type of aura. It was that aura that attracted Shina-chan to him." Yuri started to tear up tremendously before outright crying on the hokage's floor.

"If you miss the too of them so much, why did you never adopt Naruto-kun? I can see you being a great mother to him Yuri."

"You know I never could hokage-sama. As much as I loved Nato-kun and Shina-chan, I just couldn't stand to put my family's life at stake. If I adopted him, people would take it out on my children and I just can't have that, so I need to let Naruto-kun grow up and be strong. It's what Shina-chan would want."

"Very well Yuri. You may leave now as well."

_Some thing's wrong here. And not just Mirage. Is it possible that she's actually Kushina? No, she can't be because we found her body. But the last Valkyrie wasn't wiped out until a few years ago so it's possible that she could have been reborn. That would explain a lot, but why wouldn't she tell me about it? I have a feeling that someone around me is a snake. Someone around me is hiding something. That could be the only reason why Kushina wouldn't tell me._

...

Easily my shortest work yet. Not even close really. Oh well what can you do, that's what wrap up chapters are anyway.

Yes I did mention another C-rank, it's not even going to last long because I want to jump right into the chunin exams.

Yuri was introduced this chapter and her story will be gradually put out for you guys.

Lenneth found out about Platina, so a little bit of them meeting will happen in the future. That actually won't happen until near the end of book 1 but regardless it will happen.

As I mentioned at the top, college is starting up on Monday, so I want to finish one more chapter before that happens. I will still update but not as frequently or as predicted.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Chunin exams start

Expected Release: Sunday August 24

Please review.


	10. Chunin Exams Preparation

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 10: Chunin Exams Begin

Yay, I'm at the second arc of three in part one. Anyway this arc will feature what I call fight scene carnival. I've been planning those fights for a while, and I'm thrilled about that. That being said let's start with the reviews.

Blitzfury: Yeah, I had a debate about what to do with Lenneth and this made the most sense. I think that I can answer your question though because I finished VP:l recently. In VP:l, Platina died from inhaling the Weeping Lilly Pollen. Lucian told Lenneth this, and with memories of the past, Lenneth was able to get around her original death.

Scione: Thanks bro.

DeExil: Yeah my last semester of CC before I go to Marquette University. I can't wait to go there. Yes I think it's obvious by now ... or is it?

Joseph33759: (points finger to the left) that way. No problem. I love responding to my public.

...

Team one's upcoming C-ranked mission was a simple one. A merchant of Waterfall needed an escort back to his village. He was a regular of Konoha so they knew that the man would be of little problem. They were perfectly right. The trip went without a hitch and the team reached Waterfall in three days by walking. Kushina let her gennin take a trip around the village. Naruto, Ayame, Lucien, and Haku all took the tour together and had some lunch which was, to Naruto's persistence, ramen.

After lunch, the group took a tour around the village and went to the town square. In the center of the square was a statue of a large man. He was large in both size and stature. His sword was a long, broad sword and he looked like one not to be trifled with.

"Who's this guy? He looks pretty tough." Naruto asked.

"Indeed. He kind of looks like Zabuza-sama in a way."

"It says here on this plaque, that his name was Arngrim and he founded this village over a thousand years ago. But didn't shinobi villages not come to be until only a hundred and fifty years ago?" Ayame asked.

"I'm not sure about all that but I'm sure that some shinobi villages were built on preexisting villages. The village may have been added as a shinobi village 150 years ago, but the village itself could be as old as the beginning of time." Lucien said.

"How are you so intelligent Lucien? I mean you have to be even smarter then Sakura or Sasuke." Ayame wondered.

"I figured from day one that I'd have to be this teams tactician. I have a natural aptitude for intelligence and I use that to my advantage. Combine that with Naruto's freakish strength, stamina, and agility, Ayame's speed, quickness, and deadliness, and Haku's all around abilities, we're going to be a tough group ready for advancement. Hey Haku, what exactly do you have to do to advance in rank anyway?"

"I don't know. I never really went through all that. Zabuza-sama made the mask that I used himself. I never was even a gennin."

"Maybe we could ask kaa-sensei when we meet back up with her."

After that, Lucien and Haku left Naruto and Ayame to make kissy face, as Lucien called it, and went separate ways in their tour through the village. Ayame found and bought a scroll on basic and advanced bow use and maintenance while Naruto played a lottery for a scroll of water jutsus. He won the jackpot much to Ayame's amazement. Lucien picked up a text on sword usage and Haku got some texts on herbal elements.

After their little shopping spree, team one met back up with Kushina at the entrance to the village. She looked and saw everything that the team had.

"So, it looks like you guys spent some of the money from the last mission eh. I hope that you all used it wisely on things that you may need instead of twenty thousand dollars of instant ramen." Kushina said sternly.

"But I didn't kaa-sensei. I never did something like that. It's a scroll for water jutsu that I won. Honest." Naruto said, waving his hands in front of his face.

"Actually that was a reference to myself. This one time when I was pregnant with you, I had a huge craving for ramen, and since your father wasn't around I kinda ... splurged a bit."

"Well now we know about his addiction to ramen. Another trait that he picks up from his mother." Lucien started. "Hey, Kushina-sensei, how exactly do we move up in rank? We asked Haku about it but he never really answered."

"I was hoping to tell you when we got back to the village, but I guess that can wait. Well in order for a gennin to become chunin, they have to take a specialized exam held twice a year. This year, we have one exam, the first one, in Konoha, and the other one is in Kumo. Applicants are selected by their senseis and before we left, I nominated you three and hokage-sama agreed if you fill out your applications that I have with me."

"Really!? You're the best kaa-sensei! This is awesome and will put me one step closer to becoming hokage myself."

"Yup. Iruka had his complaints but I had a few words with him and well, that's that."

"So what's the test like anyway Kushina-sensei?" Lucien asked. "We were wondering what it would be like and never came up with anything."

"I can't tell you the specs but I can say this. For an unprepared team it can be like hell on earth. Some don't make it out alive, while others are scarred for life. But those are the unprepared squads. A squad as good as this one will pass the exams with a bit of difficulty but nothing too challenging."

The team was a bit relieved and still confident about their chances of success in the exams. They filled out their paperwork during a break on the trip back to the village. It took again three days to get back to the village and the sight that they saw was different then what they expected. They saw ninja from different nations walking around supposedly for the exams. After walking through the village they saw a group of Suna ninja picking on a small boy with spiked black hair and a long blue scarf.

One of the ninja was covered in black clothing and had a cloak over the top of his head. He had white face paint on him with purple stripes on his face. On his back was a large brown cocoon shaped item.

His counterpart had blond hair tied up into four pigtails and a large fan strapped to her back. She wore a purple dress that stopped at her mid thigh. Her protector dangled around her neck in a similar fashion to Ayame. She also had a red belt around her slender waist.

"Hey put me down you big freak." The kid ordered.

"Now now gaki, don't talk like that to me. I should teach you how to respect your superiors." The boy with the make-up said,

"I'm the grandson of the hokage and the next hokage of this village so you better put me down or you'll be sorry."

"Oh the grandson of the hokage huh? Well then I should give you mire then what I was thinking of giving you gaki."

"Just put him down Kankouro. It's not worth the hassle. Besides just think about what he would do if you get caught." Reprimanded the girl.

"Quiet down Temari. He's not here now so let's have our fun while we can." Kankouro told her.

"Excuse me but I don't think it's wise for an enemy to be picking on any civilian in this village. So put the kid down and we won't have any trouble." Lucien said stepping into the picture.

"Or what huh? You gonna do something about it?" Kankouro demanded. Soon after Kankouro felt the blade of a kunai pressed against his throat. Looking back, he saw a blond haired ninja with whiskers on his face. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Temari getting taken by a brunette girl. She had her legs wrapped around Temari's left and her arms around Temari's chin putting her in a very uncomfortable position.

"Fine fine, you win this round, but if I see you three in the exams you're dead you hear me?" Kankouro let the boy go and he hid behind Lucien and Naruto released Kankouro, while Ayame let Temari free.

"Kankouro you're a disgrace to our village." A new presence appeared under the branch of a tree. He had red hair and a kanji tattoo for love written on his forehead. He had a black shirt on with a white sash going across his body. Strapped to his back was a huge brown gourd. He had mesh underneath his shirt, and black shorts.

Team one had similar thoughts going on at the time. _When did he get there? How did I not sense him at all? He's good. Maybe the best I've seen yet save Zabuza._

"G-garra, when did you get here?" Kankouro shivered.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you. I apologize for my comrades here." Garra spoke with a low and frightening tone. "He can get a bit, excited when a challenge arises."

"No problem. I would advise him though not to stir up in a village full of ninja. You can't enter the exams without a full roster if you catch my drift."

_All four of them seem strong in their own way. The blond has so much chakra and pure speed to get behind Kankouro. The brunette has quickness seldom seen in any ninja. The silver haired is the most intelligent, and the fourth can hide himself perfectly._

"I wish to know the names of all four of you. Including the one hiding in the trees over there." Team one looked shocked that he was able to detect Haku's presence and Haku dropped into the clearing. Each member of the team gave their name and Garra gave his before all three Suna ninja walked off.

"That guy is scary. I can't imagine too many being stronger then him in the exams though." Lucien started. "Anything wrong Naruto, you seem a bit off?"

"No nothing. Just something in his eyes I didn't like. Like they were in constant pain and suffering. He's like a kindred soul in a way."

"I agree with Naruto on this. The look in his eyes was like the look in mine before Zabuza-sama picked me up off the streets. Lonlieness and without a purpose."

"Hey you blondy. That was awesome what you did with that bully. You too lady. You all are just awesome. I'll be sure to remember you guys when I become hokage." Said the little boy. Lucien chuckled.

"Hey Naruto, looks like you got a rival for the Hokage position. What are you gonna do about it?" Lucien wondered.

"Simple really. I beat him out to become hokage and name him my successor."

"Hah, you're good but I have the shortcut to becoming hokage, a good and solid training regiment with the best sensei in the entire village. Top that."

"Listen uh,"

"Konohamru."

"Konohamaru. There is no shortcut to becoming hokage. Hokage's not about getting a shortcut or bloodline, it's about giving your all in everything that you do. Whether it be training, D-ranks, or killing ninja and rescuing a beautiful princess. There's no such thing as a shortcut, and if you truly believe that there is one, then you'll never become hokage." Team one looked shocked that Naruto spoke words like that, but then they all smiled. They knew that despite his cheerful and outgoing appearance, another part of him knew more about true maturity then even old men.

"I understand Naruto-neesan. From now on I'll work hard and beat you to the position of hokage." Konohamaru left the area just leaving team on and Haku.

"So, some of the participants are pretty tough. Lucien do you know any way to maybe give us a preliminary edge over the competition?" Ayame asked.

"Well I have one idea but I don't know how everyone is going to react."

"What's the idea?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Well most people have a single weakness and that's bragging to the opposite sex. So I say, we flirt our way into finding out info about people from other villages. But since the birds over here won't go for it I say that Haku and I can handle it. I charm the girls while Haku takes the boys."

"But I am a boy."

"Well Haku one of us has to act as a girl. Heck you don't even have to do anything that makes you seem homosexual. Just dress up like a girl and flirt with the guys a little bit until they give you info about their team."

"And how does that exactly make me not seem homosexual?"

"OK so it does. Anyway just dress like you did in the forest and just talk to some of the male gennin and let them reveal some of their secrets." All of a sudden a team from Kiri came by. It was made up of two female gennin and one male. Lucien took off his headband and innocently bumped into one of the girls. He fell down along with her and helped her get up.

"I'm so sorry I'm new in town and awfully clumsy. Are you alright?" The girl looked at him with hearts in her eyes and a red face.

"Y-yeah I'm fine. Actually I'm sorry for bumping into you. I've never been here before."

"That's okay. I don't mind. So you're not local?"

"No we're here for the chunin exams held here this year. I'm Kanna, and these are my teammates Raku the boy, and my best friend Anta."

Meanwhile team one watched on as Lucien continued to talk to the girls. After a while they all left while Kanna wrote something on Lucien's hand. He walked back over to the group to report his findings about them.

"A typical strength on strength team. Kanna the girl I was talking to is proficient with taijutsu. The boy is excellent with water style ninjutsu. To be expected really from a ninja of Kiri. The other girl is great at genjutsu. She's so good at it she made herself seem like a girl even though she's a boy. I rate them a six on a scale of ten."

"What did she write on your hand?" Ayame asked.

"She gave me the hotel she's staying at along with their room number. Of course she was a bit disappointed when I told her that we were actually ninja but still she wanted to go out with me."

"Wait you told her? Why?" Haku asked.

"She deserved to know. Besides I also told them that others would try the same thing so they're on lookout for it. Think of it as an alliance for the exams."

"I see. So you want me to do something similar, but with the guys?"

"Yeah. Just get the info you need and tell them what we did right?"

"Exactly. The exams are in seven days. We use that time to suck up any info that we can in that time. That way, when it comes to exam time, we'll have a leg up on the competition."

"So you three are entering the competition too are you?" Sasuke said as he and Sakura came into view. "Just because you did that one C-rank doesn't mean you're that tough you know. We did one too."

"So what? We did two already." Naruto replied.

"Yeah well did your team take down a group of bandits?"

"No we weren't that lucky. Just regular escorting that sort of thing." Ayame answered.

"I saw that encounter with those Suna ninja. I will admit that you guys are decent, but there's no way that you guys could take us down. As a unit we're the best so you may as well give up now."

"Chill out Sasuke. Look I know that you want to kick some serious arse in this exam, but seriously try to kick the arse of somebody that you can actually beat. Look Sasuke, you're good, really good, but these three are really really good."

"Hn. We could take em."

"Sasuke listen to Sora. Here's a question, what are your teammates best abilities? What are their tendencies, what do they do in their spare time?" Naruto asked.

"We don't need any of that. Our teamwork is fine. We can take anything that comes our way, because individually we're the best. All three of us. When you have power, techniques, and knowledge that we do, teamwork is nothing but a second thought." Sora smacked her forehead with her hand while Sakura awed that Sasuke complimented her and her team.

"If that's what you think, that you're so superior to everyone else that teamwork is a second thought, then go ahead and try in the exams. We'll see you in a week." Lucien challenged as the team walked away. After a while Sora berated Sasuke.

"What the hell was that Sasuke? Saying that we're too good for teamwork that we don't need to use it?"

"Look Sora it's a simple tactic. We tell them how good we really are, then they feel intimidated when we fight them enabling us to have the advantage."

"That would work on a weak team, but these guys aren't weak and now they're gunnin for yur arse. Obviously you didn't think that one through the whole way."

"Sora, quit berating Sasuke-kun. It's a simple tactic of intimidating your opponent. We're stronger then them, so we'll win."

"Sakura, you don't get it. Intimidating your opponent only works if they're weaker then you. Did you see the way they took that Suna team down? Obviously they're good. I might be able to take the girl, and maybe, just maybe, Sasuke could take Naruto, their strongest, but there's no way that you could take snowball. You got better, but not good enough."

"How is Naruto their strongest? As their leader shouldn't Lucien be their strongest? After all the strongest has to lead." Sasuke added.

"No Lucien's the leader, but just because of intelligence. I trained with him, so I know that he's good but not as good as blondy. He specializes in toying with your mind and making you second guess yourself."

"I guess that makes sense. So, we need to lookout for them then?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, them and the Suna team. They're good too."

"Fine it's settled. We stay away from team one and that Suna team. I don't like it, but I guess the team decided to do it."

"Good, now I also heard another thing that they said and liked about picking up information. I think that we should do the same. Sasuke, you can attract fan girls like no tomorrow, so I want you to flirt your way to some information. Sakura, I want you to do the same as will I. We'll see what we can find out."

Sasuke smirked. "For once Sora, we agree on something. If we can figure out what kind of attacks that teams use we'll have a clear advantage. There is one thing I don't understand though."

"One thing?" Sora asked. Sasuke and Sakura glared at her after this comment.

"Yeah, that other person hanging around with team one. The guy who looks like a girl. What's his story anyway?"

"I thought that same thing. I asked snowball about it when he came in a couple of weeks ago but he just said that he found him in the village and they are hanging out, but I don't buy it. He moves like a shinobi easily at chunin level minimum. There's always a chance that he could try to sneak him into the exam as a wild card."

"But isn't that against the rules?" Sakura wondered.

"Yes but I wouldn't put it past snowball to do something like that. He has a way of reading the rules and guidelines and finding some kind of loophole. There's a chance that we'll have to deal with all four of them."

The week passed by and teams one and seven gathered the info that they needed. Both squads got info from about seventy percent of the teams. Team seven also tried to figure out something or anything about Haku but all failed miserably. Finally the day of competition arrived and team one walked into the second floor of the academy but saw a sign that read 301 on a door and a crowd of gennin waiting around the door but being blocked by two gennin. Lucien smacked his forehead at the obvious genjutsu, while Ayame and Naruto just shook their heads.

"What do you think Lucien? It's obviously a genjutsu." Ayame whispered.

"I say we sneak by. If anyone gets caught in this then they don't even deserve to pass." Team one started to sneak on by and witnessing the arguments at the gate.

"Please let us pass. Come on." Said a girl with a Konoha headband and buns in her hair.

"Why should I? Some of you may die here, while others will be scarred for life. You gotta prove your way though." One of the disguised chunin stated.

"Drop the genjutsu. It's only the second floor and the exam's on the third so why not just take it down and let us by." Sasuke gloated. "My team recognized it right away. Especially Sakura because she's a genjutsu expert." Sakura blushed at this while team one joined in a group face palm.

"So you're a smart one eh. Well take this." The chunin launched a kick as did Sasuke but they were interrupted by a green blur. When the blur revealed itself, it showed a gennin in pure green spandex with a large bowl cut hair dew and the largest eyebrows anyone ever saw. Team one shared a unison thought of _fast._

"Lee what are you doing? You said that we need to disguise our power." Said the bun haired girl.

"I am sorry Tenten but I could not stop myself upon seeing the beautiful Sakura-san again. Go up to the third floor as planned and I will meet you there or else I will do 1000 push-ups."

Tenten left as Neji and Sasuke exchanged their names and Lee challenged Sasuke to a fight below and he accepted. Lucien got that sparkle in his eye that meant mischief.

"So guys, anyone feel like watching this?"

"Wouldn't miss it for all the ramen in the world unless it's made by Ayame-chan of course."

"Aw Naruto-kun."

"Come on not here too. Let's check it out."

Team one went down the hall into an arena type place with an overhead balcony. They watched as the gennin named Lee started viscously flirting with Sakura.

"So how exactly do you two know each other?" Sora asked.

"I collected information on him and he developed a crush on me. I swear he won't leave me alone always complimenting me and asking me out, it's a bit freaky."

"Correct. Even though the youthful Sakura-san used her lovely body to get information about my team on me, I was touched that she would think so highly of me that she would need to extract information. I would do 10,000 jumping jacks to repeat the words that we spoke that day."

"Look guys, a male version of Ino." Naruto whispered to his teammates. They held in a chuckle at that and watched as Sasuke activated his sharingon and proceeded to get his behind kicked all over the arena. Lee was about to finish the fight when a turtle came in and interrupted the fight. After that a larger version of Lee came in complete with the eyebrows, haircut, and spandex. After a verbal tirade the two proceeded to hug disturbingly.

"No amount of therapy will ever make this moment ok." Lucien deadpanned.

"I once saw two girls go at it right in the ramen stand. After that I would rather see it everyday for the rest of my life." Ayame said.

"So would I." Lucien chuckled while Naruto got a bit red I the face. Ayame stepped on Lucien's foot.

After the disturbing display, the older man and gennin left. Team one dropped down to see Sora in the corner shaking her head and Sakura helping out Sasuke who couldn't believe that he just lost to that freak.

"Nicely done Sasuke. I swear you almost had him there too. Oh well, can't win em all." Lucien jeered.

"Man I've seen some ugly displays but that was just yikes." Naruto added.

"Oh really, like you could do any better Naruto-baka?"

"Well I couldn't do much worse I'll tell you that much that now."

"This coming from the team not needing teamwork. Shame really, if that's what you got then you may as well go home now." Ayame added. After that team one walked up the stairs to meet their destiny while certain members of team seven was having second thoughts about the exam.

OMAKE

Haku was dressed up in his pink kimono with his hair down just like he met Naruto in the forest. He walked through the streets in search of info for Lucien and his team. He saw a team of three each of which had the insignia for Konoha. One was dressed in a large white overcoat, the second was a girl with pale eyes, and the third had a dog on his head.

"Excuse me, but my friend is in the hospital and I need to pick up some flowers do you know where I could get some?"

Kiba looked the girl from top to bottom, and back up and said, "How you doin?" with a smirk on his face.

"Very fine. So can you help me out?"

Kiba, being the kind soul that he was escorted him to the flower shop. After getting back to his team he looked excited. "Yeah, I'm one wild beast all right."

"Kiba, you do realize that that was a guy not a girl right?" Shino asked.

"What are you talkin about? She was hot. I'd pound that into next week."

"A-actually Kiba-kun, Shino-kun was right."

"You too Hinata? How do you know for sure?"

"W-well I wasn't sure so I used my Byakugan and it really was a boy."

"But that would mean that. But that's impossible. I mean. Oh Kami. Oh, oh Kami. Oh Kami." Kiba cried while Shino and Hinata backed away.

...

Couldn't resist that last scene. I liked it. It was silly yet funny.

So I explained a bit more of team one's dynamic. You see where everyone stands in the team.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: A Written Test?

Release: Thursday August 28

Please review.

LET'S GO PACK!!


	11. A Written Test!

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 11- A Written Exam?

Ok so I'm moving on despite school starting up and everything. Thanks to all who are reviewing and stuff so without further ado, here are my replies.

Scione: Thanks bro. Reviews mean a ton to me.

Superfish01: Thanks. Yeah in some spots my grammar could be better but where you are a night reader, I'm a late night writer so yeah that's a bad combo. I don't really like stories where Naruto is strong without anyone to rival him. Kinda makes it hard to form a nice plot and gets stale fast. I've never abandoned a story in my life and don't plan on starting now.

Cooltonyneo: Whoops thanks for catching my error. I always thought it was Garra thanks again.

Joseph33795: (Carries Yuri away from wreckage) sorry bro, can't have you killing my characters. Let's leave her to Kushina okay?

I don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile because they are owned by Kisimoto, who I hope has team Taka continue to get their butts kicked and Square-enix

Chapter 2 of the Chunin exams is here. Obviously it's the written exam. So here it is hope you like it.

...

Team one walked the way back to the room where they were supposed to meet with the rest of the chunin exam participants.

"So Lucien, where's Haku at anyway?" Naruto asked while holding Ayame's hand.

"He attacked a chunin supervisor and will be watching in the exams in case we need an extra hand."

"But isn't that cheating?" Ayame wondered.

"Normally yes however Haku is a part of team one. Besides Haku really at this stage can't be too far away from me or else his body will collapse."

"I see." Naruto said. The team stopped talking and entered the doors to the entryway. Immediately a huge wave of killer intent washed over them from the other contestants and team one could certainly feel it. However, instead of responding with killer intent of their own, they shook it off and brushed it aside and picked a nice spot for themselves. Soon after the team with Hinata, Kiba and Shino walked in. Soon after, a bitter team seven entered. Right after they walked in Ino latched on to Sasuke and an insult contest broke out between the two.

"Do they realize that fighting like a couple of children just puts a bulls-eye on them through the entire competition?"Ayame asked.

"Tell me about it." Naruto replied.

"You still like her don't you Naruto-kun?"

"Not the way I used to. I still care about her, that much I can't get rid of, but now I care about someone far more important." He gave Ayame's hand a squeeze and the two hugged while Lucien rolled his eyes.

A man wearing glasses came up to the group and told them to quiet down before introducing himself and gave them a couple of pointers about the exam. He told them about things they may expect and information about a few of the countries before making an insult about Sound, a newer village. When Sasuke asked if he had info about other competitors and the ninja, Kabuto, gladly agreed.

"Give me what you have about Konoha rookie team one."

"Sasuke-kun, why do you want to know about them? They're not even in the exams so they're obviously not that great." Ino asked.

"No they're here, I can feel them. They don't want to cause a disturbance so they most likely hid themselves. That bloke snowball does things like that and I know that the others picked up on it."

"Yeah right. They're probably just scared. You weren't in our class so you don't know how lame Naruto and Ayame are. Lucien's really nothing special either."

"Yeah, well from what pinky tells me, the lass kicked ur arse numerous times so can you say anything about not being anything special?"

"I'm stronger then I was in the academy. I'll put that Sasuke-kun stealing slut in her place. I'm the only person who deserves Sasuke-kun."

"Looking at the two of you, you stand no chance against her. Besides, I don't think she's interested in duck-head over here anyway. She seems way more interested in whiskers anyway. Four-eyes if you would kindly continue, I'd like to here what you have about team one."

"Thank you." He pulled out a card that had the team one group photo. On it was also a chart that makes their level of genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu along with mission reports and any notes needed. "Let's see fourteen D-ranks and two C-ranks. Above average in ninjutsu and genjutsu while superior in taijutsu and kenjutsu. Lucien studies kenjutsu also but his skill level is undetermined. Ayame studies the bow and her skill is unknown. No real weaknesses with any of them. Noteworthy accomplishments, killing the Demon Brothers, C-ranked missing nin from Kiri. A very impressive team indeed. In my list of top teams in this exam they rank at four and the only Konoha rookie team in the top ten. Though they may jump up to three with their unknown factors."

All the rookies listening in, even team one, were in awe of this team. A team that was ranked number four was in some class as them? And none of the other teams from that class were even close?

"Look Kabuto-san, I don't want to sound like a doubter or anything, but team seven has Sasuke-kun. He's so incredibly awesome that even with the lameness of Sakura and the green haired bimbo over there that they are the team to beat in the entire exam." Sasuke had to hold Sora back from absolutely killing Ino while Shikamaru was struggling to hold Sakura with her shadow.

"Well in my preliminary ranks of teams based on my data, Sasuke ranks as the seventh best shinobi here and is the highest ranked rookie. However don't underestimate the other villages. Aside from Sound, any of them could have ninja at Sasuke's level or greater ability. It would serve you well to know that." After Kabuto's speech, a sound ninja with bandages covering his face attacked Kabuto. He dodged the punch, but after the missed punch, his glasses broke and he fell to the ground spasming.

"Put this in your notes. The squad from Sound will be chunin at the end of this exam. And you better put us as number one in your rankings." He was joined by his teammates, a boy with gravity defying black hair and a girl with long black hair.

"Hey you three, no fighting outside of the exam. If I catch you doing that again you'll be disqualified do you understand me?" The proctor yelled. He was a large man with a jonin vest and with a black headband covering the top of his head. He also had a few scar going down the sides of his face.

"I apologize proctor. We acted out of haste."

"Well don't do it again. Listen up maggots from now on I run things you don't. So take your seats now or get out." People shuffled around to take their seats. Naruto landed in the second row next to Hinata and a Kumo gennin. Ayame was near the top of the class in the corner. Lucien was in the third row middle.

"Now this is a written test. You all start with ten points and lose a point for every question you get wrong. If you get caught cheating you lose two points. You pass the exam if you have one point or more left after time is up. Furthermore this is a team based test, meaning that if one member fails, the whole team does. You have one hour to complete the exam. On the paper you'll notice that there is only nine questions. You'll receive the final question when there is fifteen minutes remaining. You may begin."

Every gennin looked over the questions. The first question was a cipher. A very difficult cipher. The next was a kunai physics and trajectory question. Gennin by gennin was getting nervous.

_What in the world is this? No way can I get these questions right, much less Naruto and Ayame. But then, wait a second, why do we only get penalized two points for cheating? Normally that's an automatic dq. Why only doc two points unless ... they need us to cheat._ Lucien saw a small mirror appear over his paper and saw his exam get switched with another one. This new exam was completely filled out. He looked at the name on the top and silently laughed. _I owe you one Haku._

Naruto was freaking out. He never did well with written exams before and this was as hard as it came. _What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? I'm gonna fail. There's no way I can answer these. _He then remembered the words of his teammate and mother. _When faced in a critical situation just calm yourself down and focus. Think clearly and logically. Panic leads to ruin. Okay, so answering the questions is out. But if I can't answer the questions myself then I need to risk it all and cheat._ Right after these thoughts, Hinata offered to share her answers and Naruto greatly obliged.

_Hmm, what am I gonna do? Cheating's the only thing I can do to pass but how do I pass. _She looked to her right and saw a Kiri gennin that looked awfully familiar. "Have we met before?" she whispered.

"Yes we did. Your teammate flirted with me remember?"

"Oh yeah he did. And despite that you wanted to date him?"

"Hey he's cute." Ayame took time during the discussion to sneak a peek at the girl's paper and copy down a few answers guaranteeing that she would pass the exam.

Other people were also finding ways to get passed the rules, though some were better at it then others. The room quickly went from a full room, down to about half full before the final question would be asked.

Meanwhile the jonin instructors met in a lounge where they talked about their teams.

"I hope they're going to be alright." Kuranai, team eights instructor asked.

"You may be seeing them soon. I hear that Ibiki Moreno is the proctor for the exam." Asuma, the jonin of team ten told them.

"That sadist?" Kakashi asked.

"Excellent." Mirage stated.

"Why is that excellent? Ibiki will take down your gennin. They're not much better then ours so why is it so good?" Asuma wondered.

"I know my team. Despite every challenge that's been thrown at them, they rise to the occasion every time. They'll pass, I know it."

"It only takes one gennin to fail the exam and superior gennin then Naruto failed horribly." Kakashi added.

"So, and inferior gennin to Naruto have passed. What's your point?"

"I'm just saying that you shouldn't be so confident. Your team may be skilled, but it takes more then skill to compete in the exam well. You of all people should understand that."

"I completely agree. But I believe that I know my team better then anyone. And they'll pass without a doubt. Despite what Ibiki could do to them."

"But what can Ibiki do?" Kuranai asked.

"He's a torture specialist. He can delve into the innermost parts of the human mind and make you second guess yourself in many cases. In the exams he won't do anything extreme but still he can strike fear into young helpless gennin."

"Pencils down! It's time for the final question. Now this question is different then the others. Should you prefer, you may drop out now and take the next exam in Suna in six months."

"Why on earth would we take that offer then?" Temari shouted.

"Because of the alternative. Should you take the question and fail you will be barred from ever taking the exam again." A pin could drop in the room and all the gennin were faced with an impossible choice. If they chose to take the question and fail then the whole team would never become chunin. But if they ducked out then the team would fail the exam and take D-ranks for another six months.

"Wait. I took this exam before in Kiri and we never received that option." A veteran gennin responded.

"I'm the law here and I decide the rules. Get the picture?"

The room fell silent as they all contemplated the decision. It was an impossible choice to make. On the one hand, if they were to quit now then their entire team would fail and it would be all their fault. On the other hand, if they took the question and failed, then not only them, but their teammates would be permanently barred from ever being promoted. After a minute of contemplation, the first person decided to duck out. After him, a whole bunch of gennin began to duck out of the exam. People had quit now for about five minutes and falling like flies. Ayame was nervous beyond all belief.

_What should I do? I know that Naruto-kun would never back down from something like this but still I don't like this. If any of us fail then that's it we're done for good. I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I'll have to take a hit for the team._

Lucien saw Ayame begin to raise her hand and his eyes shot open in shock. _What is she doing? It's obvious that she's doing this for Naruto. Damn it._ All of a sudden Naruto stuck his hand in the air and all of team one looked on in shock. He then took his hand and slammed it down on the desk hard. Giving Ibiki the toughest look he could muster, he openly did what very few can do.

"Bring it. I don't care what you throw at us cause we'll pass this easily. Team one can handle anything so you can stick that in your pipe and smoke it."

The doubters still left in the room including Ayame had all of their thoughts erased after Naruto's speech to Ibiki and everyone was at ease and ready to take the final question.

"Last call. Anyone who wants to put everything on the line for this one instant has this last chance to get out now." Again the room was silent and everyone waited for the last question to be asked. "Very well. Everyone in this room passes."

"Heh. What to run that by me again?" Lucien asked.

"Simple everyone in this room passes and will move on to the second phase of the exam."

"But how did we pass? Don't we need to take the question?" Kiba yelled.

"You did. The tenth question was the impossible choice. If you're on a mission and something goes wrong you may be forced to lead your team into an unexpected battle where casualties are definitely a possibility. On the other hand you can abandon the mission and run. This test shows what choice you would take and you all chose the chunin decision."

"But then what about the other nine questions? What were they for?" Sasuke asked.

"They were to show how discreetly you could take information from an enemy spy. If an enemy knows that you're pumping them for information then they could deceive you and give bad information." Ibiki removed his bandanna revealing a scarred face and the entire room gasped. "These injuries were all dealt by torture and we were trapped by a phony tip. Removing information without being caught is critical for any ninja trying to become chunin."

After this speech a huge cloud of smoke entered the room and four kunai nailed a poster to the front of the room. The poster said _The second proctor in the chunin exams, the sexy and single, Anko Miterashi. _The smoke cleared and now at the front of the room a woman with black hair and fishnet cloths under an overcoat appeared.

"Here I am maggots."

"Uh Anko, look at the mood in the room now." Anko looked over the room to see a bunch of shocked gennin staring at her with a stunned expression while Lucien slapped his head with his hand while groaning about something along the lines of a second Naruto.

"Twenty-six teams Ibiki? You must be getting soft to let this many maggots through to the net round. No matter, by the end of the next round I'll cut the field down in half. Meet me at training ground 44 in a half hour or you fail." With that Anko disappeared leaving the rest of the gennin to try to catch up. Team one met up with Haku and made their way over to the grounds.

"So we passed that's good. Hey Naruto, what was up with you in there?" Lucien asked.

"I saw Ayame-chan start to get nervous so I did what I had to to ensure that I would be fine if I failed. So how'd you guys cheat?"

"Haku switched papers with me via ice mirror."

"I copied off of the girl that Lucien hit on from Kiri. Thought I'd put her brain to good use."

"Anyone else notice that Konoha has way more gennin here then any other country? Is it because we're the hosts this year or something?" Naruto asked.

"Actually traditionally Konoha has the most ninja of any village." Lucien said. "During the days of the last war, Konoha won with superior numbers though when looking at the facts, they actually suffered more casualties then any other nation. Since that time, Konoha has been the strongest of the shinobi nations by sheer numbers. Even though they were at a cost."

"What kind of cost?" Ayame asked.

"Quality of shinobi." Haku answered. "Based on what I see and know of the gennin teams from Konoha as opposed to others, Konoha is seriously outclassed in quality. I took a peek at Kabuto's list and only two of the teams from Konoha were in the top ten. Us and Maito Gai's team. Every other team of Konoha shinobi failed to make the cut. Also I had a look at the records from chunin exams past and Konoha always suffers immeasurable casualties."

"How much dirt did the two of you dig up anyway?" Ayame asked.

"Anything that we got our hands on. Chunin exam records are easily available on the black market in Konoha. Just pay them something good and they'll talk." Lucien told them. "Also we can bet that the next exam will be some kind of free-for-all I bet. It'll take advantage of the superior numbers of Konoha."

"So what will we do in that case?" Naruto wondered.

"Nobody knows out comrades better then us. Based on the dirt we picked up, Naruto could easily impersonate an enemy gennin and cause confusion in the group."

"Sounds good. Would you four like some help?" Team one turned around and looking them right in the face were Kanna, Raku, and Anta.

"Are you offering Kanna?"

Kanna ran over and glomped Lucien's shoulder. "Of course Lucien-kun. We'd love to lend our assistence to such a group."

Lucien broke free of the hold that Kanna had on his arm and replied, "Look, we don't even know the conditions of the exam yet. This is all simply speculation on a likely scenario. I'll tell you what, if we meet in the second exam, we work together no matter what deal?" Lucien stuck his hand out, but Kanna took the time to glomp his arm again.

"Of course it's a deal Lucien-kun. You know that I could never say no to you about anything." She went to kiss Lucien on the cheek which he narrowly avoided. "Bye bye Lucien-kun."

Lucien was now beet red in the face and Naruto and Ayame were having the time of their life. Before they could make-up for the torture that the silver haired boy had dealt to them he turned to them with his eyes becoming pale.

"You mention one word of this incident, every single muscle of your bodies will feel like they have been shredded worse then grated cheese. Understand?"

"Yeah yeah whatever you say. Come on Ayame-chan, let's move so that Lucien can spend more time with Kaaaaaaannnnnnaa." One tick mark appeared over the boy's head.

"Now now Naruto-kun we shouldn't be so mean. I mean it's not like they can respond back with their tongues down each others throats."

"Head start in 5." Naruto and Ayame ran from the wrath that was soon to come. "." A war cry followed and the boy took off like a rocket after the two laughing teens.

...

Ah sweet revenge. I didn't plan on Kanna staying as long as she did but hey it happens right. This brings me to a critical decision that needs to be made. Kanna will stay in the story and that much is set. However her pair has yet to be decided. I don't want to break up Lucien and Tayuya because that pair will be huge in the story. So I'll figure it out before the next chapter is released.

I realize that I've been moving at an incredible pace for this story. I pace that I really can't keep up for one story. I just need a bit more time to gather my thoughts and whatnot. So I think that I'll begin a duel focus work, where I work on a chapter of one story and then do another chapter. I AM NOT STOPPING THIS STORY!! But expect a new post every two weeks or so as opposed to about every five days or so.

I'll put a summary of my newest work in my profile. I based it off of a fic that I read a long time ago and never found it again. It's a good concept too. I'll keep Lucien though his powers will be a bit different. I'm thinking of basing them off of Jr. from R.O.D. Just the power of intangibility though, why, because it's a freakin sweet power that's why.

Whew, long notes this chapter.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Rage

Release Date: September 9th (More or less)

Go Packers!! Let's go Aaron Rodgers.


	12. Rage!

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 12: Rage

Well guys the story is back in action. Or back in traction however you feel like saying it. With a burst of energy, I'm getting this up about a week ahead of time. So that being said let's hit those reviews shall we?

Joseph33795: Eh no problem. Just try not to kill characters in the future okay?

Cooltony101neo: Will do bro and thanks.

Wherearemychips: I'm not really leaning towards that way. I don't think it would be in Sakura or Ino's character to give up with more competition. Besides with what I have planned for Sasuke, I don't want her paired with him.

Zero Sakura Cross: Thanks a ton. Yeah VP:S is awesome to play. The plot is simply phenomenal. I'm glad that you put me on such a short list of authors, it means that I'm obviously doing something right. About the chapters, yeah I like to spend about an hour or two a day just writing. It helps me just churn out chapters like nobody's business. Lol it does sound very Hawaiian.

Still I have yet to come to a final decision about what to deal with Kanna. But I am leaning towards a pair change, which you will see here.

Warning, tremendous amount of violence in this chapter. Much more then in the past.

Don't own Naruto or VP. Never did, never will.

...

Team one had finally composed themselves after the group taunting. To be honest, Lucien knew that he had those taunts coming, but still they didn't have to go that far. They walked right in front of the forest where the proctor, Anko, explained the second phase of the exam.

"Listen up maggots, because I'll only explain this once. The point of this exam is to get to the tower in the center of the forest. You each will get one scoll at random. You're task is to find the opposite scroll. If you get the Heaven Scroll, then you need Earth, if you have Earth you need Heaven. You have five days to complete the task. Any force necessary may be used in the forest and deaths can occur during this portion. So before you begin you need to fill out a waver saying that Konoha won't be responsible before you get your scroll. After we pass out the scrolls, you'll get additional instructions."

Team one filled out each of their paperwork and went into the tent to pick their scroll up. It was a Heaven Scroll. They wanted to see who would take it.

"Naruto-kun, I think you should take it. I mean you're the strongest out of all of us and you taking it would be best."

"No, for my plan to work, it would be best if we gave it to Haku. Nobody will expect him to have it and he's more then capable of keeping the scroll safe."

"I agree with Lucien. People will be expecting one of the three of us to have it. Haku would be the best choice."

"I didn't even think about him. Yeah I agree, give it to Haku." Team one did as they agreed on and left Haku to take the scroll and he put it in with the rest of his things. Sure enough, Kanna and her team came up to team one.

"So it looks like we'll be working together on this part after all. What scroll did you get?" Kanna asked.

"We're Heaven, what about you guys?"

"We're Earth. But don't worry about it. I mean after all there will be extras available in the forest and seven on three is really good odds."

"True. As agreed to earlier, should we meet in the forest, we offer no hostilities. And if we find ourselves a duplicate Heaven, we offer to you."

"And the same to us. You know in Kiri we don't seal a deal was a handshake. We seal it with a kiss. Want to seal it?" Kanna leaned in for the kiss but was stopped with a nice try from Lucien.

"What do you think?" Anta asked. "Should we meet them, do we break our deal and attack?"

"No." Kanna responded. "They've been nothing but honest with us and we should do the same. I don't care about what Mizukage-sama said about allies."

"Wise choice. I doubt that we could take the four of them anyway even with an advantage." Anta responded. "Are you really that desperate for a date Kanna?"

"Not desperate I don't know, just something about him draws me there you know. But acting the part of a fan girl can be fun don't you think? And he is cute."

"That sounds like something that you'd say." Anta told her as she chuckled and the team went to their respective gate.

"So, Lucien, you don't plan on betraying them do you?" Ayame asked.

"No I don't think so. In this portion of the exam allies are needed. And I'd trust Kanna much more then Sasuke, Kiba, or Ino anyway."

"What makes you think that she won't be plotting your downfall? Could she not be simply playing the part of the fan girl?" Haku asked.

"Oh she's playing the part of the fan girl alright. I can see right through her."

"And I think that you really do want to see right through her if you know what I mean." Naruto laughed at his own joke while Ayame wondered at that moment what she sees in him. Lucien glared briefly at Naruto before continuing his speech.

"Moving on. She's putting on a face for the other teams and making herself seem weak. As for how I know that she won't betray us, I just have a gut feeling about it. Call it a hunch if you will."

"Whatever you say, you're the tactician." Ayame said shrugging her shoulders.

They arrived at their gate and waited for the second exam to begin. They all looked anxious. Haku had transformed himself to look like Naruto, while Naruto transformed into a shuriken so it wouldn't look odd for a team of four. They had been doing the switch throughout the exam process so that nobody would catch on to what they were doing.

Finally after what seemed like hours of tense waiting, a siren went off and all the gennin teams were released into the forest. After they were out of the proctor's eyesight, Naruto transformed back into himself and Haku went back to looking like himself.

"So Lucien, what's the plan?" Ayame asked.

"We need to find an easily accessible scroll. Naruto, with your transformation abilities we need to insert you into an enemy team and cause a disturbance. Then Haku, and Ayame will snipe them out from afar."

"So how are we going to find a team?" Naruto wondered.

"The tower is the most likely choice." Haku answered. "Every gennin has to go through the tower to pass the exam. If we go straight there we can set up a base there and take a team by storm."

"But if we find a team before we get there, it will be better." Lucien added. "Every team possible wants to set up camp there." After about a couple of hours of running, Lucien found his target. He did some hand seals that nobody recognized the order for and called out, "Fire style, Firestorm jutsu." Naruto took the cue and transformed into the person in the group that they just broke apart that he knew more then anybody else in that group.

Sasuke rubbed his head and wondered just what attack that could have been. He was running with his team when a small ball of fire erupted and split his team apart. He got out his kunai and turned on his Sharigan and then scanned the area but all looked quiet. After a few minutes of searching, Sora entered the clearing.

"Oi, what the hell was that?"

"How do I know that you're Sora?"

"Because your head looks like a duck's arse."

"Alright you're Sora, but where's Sakura and who was it that launched that attack?"

"I dunno. But somebody is close." All of a sudden Sakura emerged into the clearing rubbing her head.

"Ouch, what in the world was that? An enemy?" What surprised everyone else though, was when a second Sakura emerged from the side rubbing her head in the same manner.

"What in the world was that? Sasuke-kun, Sora, you guys alright?"

Sasuke, Sora, and both Sakura's looked confused as ever. It was obvious that one of them was a fake, but what Sasuke couldn't tell though was which Sakura was real or fake._ This is odd. It should be a simple henge, but my sharingan could easily tell through that. Then there's how close they are in appearance, but the two are completely identical. If this is a genjutsu, it must be a high-level one because my sharingan can't break it at all. But who can pull off such a high-level genjutsu?_

"Oi, Sasuke, can you tell the difference between the two?" Sora whispered.

"No. Not even my sharingan can tell them apart. Also, I don't sense a genjutsu in the area either. Something's not right here."

"Thanks for the info dipshit."

"Hey don't talk about Sasuke-kun like that!" Both versions of Sakura yelled at the same time.

_They're close. Mannerisms, vocabulary, obsession with Sasuke, everything. Whoever is doing this is good and I mean really good. It's like this shinobi knows her personally as well as physically._

"Wait a second," the Sakura on the right said, "I know what you're up to. You want to impersonate me just so that you could get closer to Sasuke-kun right Ino-pig?"

"What do you mean by that? If any of us is a fake it's you."

"Sasuke-kun, you can tell that she's nothing but a fake right. Come on take her down."

Looking from Sakura to Sakura, Sasuke knew which one was the real Sakura. He charged at the Sakura on the left. She ducked and nicked her in the shoulder, but still cut her shoulder deep. "Drop it. I know you're the fake."

All of a sudden Sora went down from a senbon to the neck and Sasuke whipped around while the right Saukra fell to the ground crying and clutching her shoulder. Now a few arrows rained down and trapped Sakura to a tree by her clothing and Sasuke got captured by the now proven fake. "She" held a kunai to his neck.

"You're outnumbered and outclassed Sasuke. Tell me who has your scroll and we'll leave."

"What did you do with my team?" Sasuke asked while trying to stall for time.

"Don't worry, they're ok. Sora got hit in a pressure point causing her body to temporarily shut down. Sakura is simply tied to the tree. Now who's got it?"

Sasuke hit the inside of the ninja's elbow knocking the kunai away and went in for a trip. That was a bad move however when a barrage of arrows and senbon rained down on him and the Uchiha did not end up unscathed. His knee, thigh, shoulder, and ribs all got pierced by the senbon. He also noticed that he dodged all the arrows but at the cost of more senbon getting caught in various places in his skin. He was on the ground now and tried to crawl away from the battle before "Sakura" stepped on his wrist. Sasuke took his free hand and threw his teams' scroll at the feet of the shinobi.

"A Heaven Scroll, how disappointing. Oh well I guess we can use this as a bargaining chip." With that the mysterious shinobi jumped away into the trees and disappeared. Sasuke was still in that state when Sora woke up and freed Sakura. After this a mysterious shinobi showed up from Kusa.

"So that was a waste of time." Ayame asked.

"At least it dropped the Uchiha down a couple of pegs. Come on, let's keep going and set up camp when we get close to the tower. After that we'll get ready for day two of this exam."

Team one set up camp and foraged for some food in the bushes. They opted to not keep a campfire so that enemies could not spot them easily. They made their destination with a bit of daylight left. Lucien took the first shift, Ayame took second, Haku took third, and Naruto took the final shift. Another positive to having an extra team member was being able to get more sleep.

In the morning, team one woke up and searched around for some more bushes to forage off of. They then set up various traps around the campsite.

"So what should we do now? Do we go after some teams and look for a scroll or do we wait here for something to show up?" Naruto wondered.

"This campsite is on a higher point of elevation then the tower, especially with the trees. I say that at all times, one of us should always keep an eye on that tower for other teams who may be on their way there and ambush them."

"I see and what should we do when we see another team? Do what we did with Sasuke's team?"

"No we shouldn't do that. You wouldn't know a teammate as well as Sakura. We kinda lucked out there. Ayame and Haku should again bombard them with projectile attacks while you and I stay on guard duty. Besides, I really can't do another firestorm right now. It takes a ton of chakra to do."

During the discussion. Team one heard a shriek in the distance. But this shriek didn't belong to just anyone. It belonged to Kanna.

Kanna was in serious trouble. Her team had just gotten ambushed by a team of three sound ninjas and they made short work out of Anta and Raku. Anta had all of his genjutsu broken by the female sound ninja and she was passed out on the ground and taking her last breaths. Raku launched every ninjutsu in his arsenal at the mummified sound ninja, but they were ineffective against his gauntlet. Kanna tried every form of taijutsu in her arsenal, but the mummified gennin had her coughing up blood. The third had both of his arms broken and was standing on the sidelines.

"Ok here take it. It's our scroll now please just leave us alone." Kanna begged.

The sound ninja just laughed. "My dear Kiri ninja I'm afraid I can't do that. You see another enemy made us very angry and killing you three would really let us have a break wouldn't you say? But since you seem to care about your teammates so much, I'll give you the pleasure of watching them die before we take you out."

The female gennin took a hold of her by the hair and forced her to watch as the mummy buried his kunai into Anta's chest. "NOOOOO!! Please I'm begging you. Stop this."

As an answer to her plea, he lifted up Raku by the shirt and killed him in the same manor. Turning back to her, he brandished his kunai and jabbed it right into her lungs. That however would be the biggest mistake of his life as team one jumped into the clearing.

Lucien observed the carnage in absolute horror. He saw Raku and Anta brutally killed and beaten, while Kanna was on her last breaths. Lucien ran over to her and cradled her head against his arm. "Kanna, please hang on."

"Lucien-kun ... I'm glad ... that I can ... see your face ... one last time."

"Kanna, don't talk like that. We'll get you out of here."

"Don't lie ... to me. You know that this ... is the end ... for me. At least I join ... my team. Beware ... they all use sound. Can ... I ask you ... for a favor."

"Sure. Anything."

"Give me ... a kiss. Let ... my last memory ... be a happy one." With no wasted movement, Lucien captured Kanna is a kiss. They made out in the forest for about a minute before Lucien pulled away from the girl.

"Kanna. Kanna. Get up." Lucien shook her. He kept shaking her futilely while hoping that if he could keep shaking her she'd somehow live. Naruto and Ayame were both on the verge of tears while even Haku was also nearing bawling. Meanwhile, the sound ninja were laughing. Laughing like they were the most proud people in the world. Lucien stopped crying and released a huge amount of killing intent. Naruto supposed that it was even more powerful then the one he used in the fight against the Demon Brothers and it was directed at the sound ninja.

"Naruto, Ayame. Haku, stand back. I'll handle this myself. I am going to kill every. Last. One. Of. Them." The konoha ninja wanted to back up their teammate, but they knew that in the mood that Lucien was in, interrupting him would be a terrible idea.

The mummified ninja tried to not look effected and tried to jeer Lucien again. "So touching. Just because your little girlfriend got killed,"

"Shut it!"

Faster then any of them had ever seen, Lucien shot off at the injured sound ninja. He took one of his broken arms and shot a blast of sound right where Lucien was and a huge cloud of smoke appeared where he was.

"Look at that. He was blown away. I guess he was all augh." The sound ninja never saw Lucien appear behind him. He never saw Lucien take out his sword, and he never saw Lucien jab his sword right through his stomach. He reached into the ninja's ears and pulled out what looked like an ear piece He put the piece inside his own ear.

The other two ninja were completely shocked. Right in front of their eyes , they saw their teammate get killed and their special ear piece get removed.

"H-how did you know about the ear piece?" the girl said, shaking.

"Simple." Lucien spoke with a very cold tone "Kanna told me that you all use sound. However, sound works in both directions even when used with chakra. Therefore you would all need a canceler to block the sound from your own ears. It's time to repent for your sins and meet Lenneth-sama."

Lucien took off again, this time towards the girl. She pulled out some senbon in a desperate attempt stop the charge, but they were all ineffective. He dodged them all with the greatest of ease. He was about ten feet away from her now, and the mummified ninja tried to get in his way with a punch. Lucien caught it out of the corner of his eye, and hacked off his arm before turning his eyes again to the girl.

"L-look. There's their scroll right there. P-please take it and let us live."

"You don't deserve it. Let me ask you something, did Kanna beg and plead for her life? Did she ask you to let her and her teammates live?" Lucien began crying again.

"W-well yeah but still. You see we were angry at this other team and wanted to take our aggression out and, well, they got in the way."

"Got in the way! Bullshit! You would have killed anyone that you cam across and you know it. Here though you went too far." Lucien rushed forward and dug his sword right into the stomach of the girl ninja killing her instantly. He turned his face back to the other ninja, who, while cradling his arm, tried to crawl away.

"You said at the beginning of the exams the the sound ninja would be chunin. But in order to do that, you need to be alive." Lucien charged up his chakra again, this time again increasing his output to something that the others had never seen. "It shall be engraved upon your soul."

Naruto and Ayame knew those words and flash backed to the last time that they heard that phrase before watching the carnage of the Demon Brothers. He drew his sword and they watched as he again assaulted the one armed gennin. As with the last time, he hit with four sword strikes, each one barely grazing the skin, but enough to cause intense pain with each strike. He then hit with a backfilp and ran under him and trapped him in a photon. "Nibelung Valesti." Lucien shouted as he came down from above and cut right through the sound ninja.

This time after using the attack, Lucien was not only conscious, but he could also walk effectively. Well by walk effectively I mean he could limp, but still he made his way over to Kanna under his own power and he was joined by his team. Kanna's limp body started to turn a bright green, and that aura also started to surround Lucien. As with the last time, Lucien fainted and Naruto caught him.

"What's going on? Is he alright?" Naruto asked.

"I've seen this before. Right after Haku died. I think he may be doing the same with Kanna." Ayame said.

"It is likely. He may be trying to bring her back the same exact way that he brought me back."

All Kanna saw was a realm of complete darkness. She knew that she was no longer alive, because she could no longer feel pain. But still she wondered what was going on and she had no idea what had happened to her teammates. After about a quarter of an hour, she saw the face of Lucien appear. She cried as she ran to him because she knew that he too had just died. She ran in and embraced him while apologizing to him profusely.

"It's fine. I'm okay. I'm still alive. Though fortunately I can't say the same about those sound ninja."

"You killed them? How?"

"After your hint about them using sound, I hijacked one of their earpieces. With that, their sound attacks were negated and they were easy pickings."

"But if you're alive, then am I?" Lucien averted his eyes. He couldn't look her in the eyes because he knew that she had truly died and he felt responsible. Kanna also averted her eyes.

"No but if you want, I can bring you back to life. With a few restrictions of course."

"Really, you can! That would be awesome. Could you do the same for Anta and Raku?" Again, Lucien averted his eyes. He just couldn't take the look of rejection and despair in her.

"No. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how they lived their lives, they have already faced judgment by Lenneth-sama, the shinigami. They're outside my power."

"I see. So they're really gone huh?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry." Kanna just hugged him tighter.

"What do you have to be sorry about? You did nothing wrong. So what kind of restrictions will I have on me?"

"Well, for starters, I'm going to give you a temporary body to contain your soul when I get enough strength. It will continually draw power from my body until it is strong enough to contain itself. During this time you can't really afford to be that far from me or else your body will disappear and the process will have to start over again."

"So that means that until I get enough strength, I have to be close to you? I think that I can agree to that."

Naruto, Ayame, and Haku proceeded to take the scroll left behind by Kanna's team and take Lucien back to where they set up camp. It was about an hour before Lucien finally woke up again.

"Hey, nice to see that you're awake. So do you have another einhajar?" Haku asked. Lucien grunted and sat back up.

"Yeah but I'm kinda low on strength right now. But I think that I have enough still to perform materialization."

"No." Naruto shouted. "Look you used an amazing amount of power back there. Enough to even rival the power I used when I used Kyuubi the first time and after I did, I was sore as heck."

"I agree with Naruto-kun. Those Valkyrie powers that you have take an enormous toll on your body. Evey time you use them you're taken out of commission and we still have more exams to go. At least take a food pill or something before you try to materialize her."

"Fine." Lucien took out a food pill and ate it, before doing the materialization for Kanna. She appeared right next to Lucien and looked at herself.

"He wasn't lying to me. I really am alive."

"Told ya. Ouch."

"You have no idea how grateful I am to be back alive."

"Something wrong Kanna?" Ayame asked.

"It's just not fair. My teammates are dead. Killed by those vicious sound ninjas. And here I am alive and surrounded by such great people. It's not fair. It's not fair." She cried as she dove into the arms of Lucien and sobbed while he tried to comfort her. He really had no experience in doing this but did the best that he could. After she had settled down for a bit, Naruto asked the question that everybody was thinking.

"So are you two like, dating now or what's up with you two?" Ayame nodded in agreement and even Haku was confused.

The question was answered by an astounding yes from Kanna, and an in a way by Lucien.

"The fact is that we really know nothing about each other. So after the exams, we'll sort see how things stand and if we hit it off well then yes we will officially start going out." Lucien clarified.

"So is that a yes or no?" Naruto asked.

"If I had to say one or the other, I'd give it a yes." Lucien told him. Kanna squealed and took the time to glomp Lucien's arm. "Hey Naruto, can I call a truce?"

"With all the tongue jokes you put me and Ayame-chan through, you expect me to call a truce. Are you insane?" Naruto laughed.

"Can't blame me for trying."

...

Very intense chapter right here. Some are confused with a few things so let me clarify them here.

I don't want to seem that Lucien and Kanna may seem a bit rushed, but they're not all over each other in 5 minutes. So yes they are dating, but they're not in love with each other. That takes time. As far as why they kissed in the forest, it's because he did like her a little bit and wanted to oblige her last request. It's not that he hated her at any time, in fact he liked her, just not the same way that she liked him, and watching someone die has a way of making you change your mind a bit. I hope I explained that well and not get a million reviews of hate mail or something like that.

This throws LucxTay in serious Jeopardy. However, since I'm already doing LucxTay in Ember, I'm leaning towards changing the pair to HakuxTay. Which is probably what I'll do.

The chapter was a bit Lucien centered and I will very seldomly do this. Naruto will again be the center of the story next chapter. The reason is, the fight was really needed to center around Lucien.

What I'll do next, is do the next chapter of Ember so I don't really know when the next chapter of this will be up.

Again, with Lucien's power. He gave his everything in that attack as desperation and anger. Naruto is still far stronger, but Lucien is stronger then average as is Ayame.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: A Preliminary? The third exam

Please review.


	13. Ghost?

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 13: Ghost?

Alright, things are starting to get edgy and I am on a literal roll right now. With school, football, and everything else, this week has been hectic but the ideas have been rolling. But before I get to the content which you all love, let me handle reviews.

Scione: Yeah it really was the only way to get Kanna there without causing incident, yet giving her emotional depth and a sort of connection to Lucien.

DeExil: Nice to hear from you again bro. I hear ya about the chunin exams. My take is that without Sasuke and Naruto being on the same team, then Naruto or Kabuto wouldn't have met Naruto and would still be an enigma. You had no many breaks I had to take when writing the last chapter, it was hard. If you think shes cool now, wait till later. Like, I don't know, this chapter.

Joseph33795: Eh it happens. Especially with the conventions that just ended so it's all good. I'm starting to like it myself.

Atlantis-rob: Konoha always struck me as a numbers country. I mean the graduation exams that we know seem WAY too easy and impractical for training few, quality shinobi, despite the extra exam.

Anttolas: I've seen Haku/Tay done before and really liked it. I don't remember the title but it was a NaruxTen and was a good read. They just seem like they would click.

Cooltony101neo: Always love to hear praise. Thanks a ton.

Zero Sakura Cross: I talk to you a lot don't I? Lol. Yeah it does, but what can you do right? It took a few times to figure out what the V bomb was. Never have, but I'll check it out when I have free time. Sounds interesting. Thanks a ton.

Whew, not since Chapter 8 did I have that many reviews, but I like having lots of em. It makes it seem that I'm doing something right.

This chapter will be duel focus. I'll have more LuxKa in there and some NaruxAya which have been lacking a bit recently. Lastly, this chapter will end the second stage and I'll enter a barrage of fights. Hopefully they'll be at the Naruto vs Haku level.

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile yadda yadda yadda. (yes I just yadda'd the disclaimer)

...

"So, what should we do with it?" Ayame asked.

That was the sound that Naruto woke up too. He wasn't sure what had gone down during the night, so he tiredly walked over to where the entire group was sitting around in a circle with two sets of scrolls laying in the center. Well, actually the group minus Kanna was in a circle. Kanna was actually sitting on the lap of Lucien who apparently stopped bothering with protesting.

"What's going on?" Naruto yawned. He also wiped some gunk out of his eyes that came from a night of sleep.

"During Kanna-san's watch last night, an intruder sprung a trap. She asked that if she be let out, then she would surrender her teams scroll and we were just now talking about what to do with it." Haku reported. Naruto sat down inside the circle and made a thinking pose.

"Um, actually, I have an idea of what to do with the spare set." Kanna said. "But if we do that, then we'll lose another day on passing the stage."

"What do you have in mind Kanna?" Naruto wondered.

"I was thinking that we should bury it. Bury it with Raku and Anta as a sort of last respects to the dead. You all think it's dumb don't you?" Kanna turned her head away from the group and looked down to the ground.

"Actually, I like the idea." Naruto said. "I mean with the way you loved and cared about your team, then they would truly appreciate the sentiment you know?"

"I agree. It would be so sweet to pay respects to your loved ones. It's never stupid to pay a final respect." Ayame added.

"I payed a last respect to Zabuza-sama with his sword. I think that the scrolls would be a nice tribute to your team."

"And you Lucien-kun? How do you feel about this?"

"I agree with all said here. Though I wonder, how would this be for you? I mean it must be kinda weird to see your own corpse. Also the corpses of your team. It's going to be tough to see that, but don't worry, I'll be here for you ya know. Everybody here will be."

Kanna reached her arms around the boy and began to sob into his chest. Lucien hugged her back, while Naruto and Ayame looked at each other. They knew that not too long ago, they were the two currently hugging. They decided to give the two teams a little bit of space, before they came back again to discuss plans once everyone was completely composed.

When Naruto and Ayame returned to the camp with a load of berries and fresh meat, they found Lucien and Haku discussing something. They couldn't tell what, but since Lucien's sword was drawn, they assumed that it was either training, or a weapons discussion. Meanwhile, Kanna was off to the side stretching. At present, she was bending backwards and touching the heels of her feet and holding them for a few seconds.

She did that exorcise a few times and then went from there into a handstand and held it for a while. "Hey, you guys are back. Oooo and you brought food. Sweet. I'm starving." Ayame and Naruto just stared at the girl and didn't move an inch. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"No it's just, does that hurt?" Naruto asked.

"You bet it does." Kanna replied while still in her handstand. "But hey I need to loosen up this new body somehow. It's really stiff."

"You call that stiff? I'm a girl and I can't even do that stuff."

"When I was a little girl, I was given a few mandatory options to help aid my taijutsu. The one given to me was gymnastics. Thus my body is far more flexible and bendy then your average shinobi or kunoichi." Kanna then pushed herself up in the air from her position and did two and a half twists in the air and stuck it much to Naruto and Ayame's amazement.

"Wow. That's pretty amazing Kanna. What else can you do using taijutsu?" Ayame asked.

"Well, I'm a counter attack specialist. I use my superior flexibility and movement skills to strike at crucial points in a persons body, thus disabling their body 1 piece at a time. It doesn't really have a name, but still, it's effective. What are you guy's specialties?"

"We never really learned specialties Kanna." Lucien said, stepping into view. "Konoha just gives basic ninja training and expects the sensei's to piece it all together. They really don't specialize until chunin level. For example, one such team that we have is made up completely of trackers."

"But that's stupid. You need to balance out the power and everything in order to be successful. In these exams, if that unit went up against a direct assault unit then ..."

"Exactly. Another unit we have is made up with the sole purpose of successing their fathers."

"Again that's stupid. I know that your hokage is a genius. But his policy concerning gennin is ridiculous."

"Well Konoha has always played by the numbers. Konoha's military is so large that really they have more ninja then they know what to do with. Not to mention all the bloodlines. It's a lot different then what you grew up to." Lucien told her.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Kiri had a smaller force due to the way our gennin exams were held in the past, thus our gennin may be much better then average, but there are so few of us that we need to specialize early. Come on, we need to go if we want to bury those scrolls by the end of the day."

"I agree. Haku come on, Naruto, Ayame, you two stay here and guard the scrolls. Also, release the prisoner that Kanna caught."

"Wait, we're not coming with you? Why don't you want us to come with you?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing personal. Just that Kanna's going to need some space for this. I'd send her out alone, but she can't really leave my side. Same goes with Haku."

"What if you get attacked though?" Ayame asked.

"The three of us can handle ourselves nicely. You guys have the traps and they should take care of anyone stupid enough to try. Just lay back and regain your strength for the next phase of the exams. I have a feeling that we'll need it." With that, Lucien and his group left, leaving just Naruto and Ayame. They decided that the first thing that they'd do was release the prisoner that was captured and they nearly lost it when they found out who got caught.

"Well. What are the three of you staring at. LET ME OUT OF HERE!!" Ino screamed.

"Ino Yamanaka, should have guessed. Well between taking your scroll, and Sasuke's team scroll, we've proven ourselves as the best team here." Ayame jeered.

"No way could you guys take Sasuke-kun's scroll. You're lying. How could you take his scroll when you know he likes you."

"What's your point? I'm with Naruto-kun and I wouldn't choose anyone else. Now shut up or I won't free you Ino." Ayame previously had a kunai out but was now pulling it away. Naruto stood on the sidelines because he didn't ever insert himself into a person who's rivaling Ayame.

"No, we had a deal. I give you my scroll while you set me free. I gave you my end of the bargain. Besides, you guys cheated by forming an alliance with Kiri. You have two Kiri ninja with you and that's against the rules."

"Actually Ino it's not." Naruto started. "The rules said that all you need is to pick up a set and return them to the tower in five days without reading them. And we're following those guidelines so we're not cheating."

"Secondly," Ayame started, "if we just wanted your scroll, we could take it anyway we want. I mean come on what are you going to do while being stuck in a mud pit."

"Uh Ayame-chan. That pit doesn't smell like mud. I think that Lucien used something else if you catch my drift." Naruto grinned.

"Oh that's absolutely nasty. Don't make me switch places with the two of you because I can."

"Relax Ino, we're getting you out." Naruto and Ayame put their hands in a cross shape and released the genjutsu. Revealing no mud at all, just a small, single, dirt hole."

"What? That was a simple genjutst? Who set it up though? Ayame was never good at genjutsu and Naruto, you suck. Plus, Lucien never struck me as genjutsu either. So unless it was one of your allies."

"And it was. Haku set it up. Using his knowledge of water jutsu, he was able to create the ilusion of a hole of slippery, unclimbable, and messy mud. Now get out of here Ino before it's too late to finish the exam. With that, Ino took a glance to where she thought Lucien ran off to before running off to meet with her team.

"Ugh, stupid fan girl. She thinks that Sasuke is Kami or something." Ayame sighed before sitting herself down. She saw that Naruto looked a bit troubled as he stared off into space. "Naruto-kun, anything wrong?"

"It's nothing. Just, what Ino said about how Sasuke likes you. I kinda thought about what life would be like if you liked him back and then I'd have nobody." Ayame got up and wrapped Naruto in a tight hug.

"I see. You know sometimes I have similar thoughts about you and Sakura too. About how my life would be different if you were still following Sakura around like a lost puppy. About how everybody would rave about how perfect the two of you are while I'm lurking around in the shadows. But Naruto-kun, we have each other, and we always will. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think I'm falling with you Naruto-kun."

Naruto was shocked at this. Sure he knew that Ayame liked him, but he didn't know how far it really went. "I don't know anything about love Ayame-chan, but I do know this, if I didn't have you around me through all the times, good and bad, then I may have turned out to be a bad person. I was once there you know and you brought me out of it. I don't know if that's really what love is, but I wouldn't trade you for anything."

Right after Naruto spoke those words the two began to kiss right in the forest. The aggressive session lasted far longer then any other time when they had done it. They decided to cut it short however before something extreme happened. After all, they did need to save their energy for the next part of the exam, so they just stayed by each other and enjoying the other's company.

"You know, they are pretty cute together. Lucien and Kanna I mean." Ayame said, while resting her head on Naruto's lap.

"Yeah they are. I thought that she was fan girlish at first. She definitely came off that way. But after getting to talk to her, she liked Lucien for his honesty with her and his mind." Naruto responded.

"Yeah, but all those fan girls want are Sasuke's body and status. What do you suppose Ino would do if she started dating Sasuke? Hypothetically speaking of course."

"My guess? Brag to Sakura about how she won the last Uchiha boy. I don't even know if it's even about Sasuke anymore. I think that the main reason that they're now going after Sasuke is just to top the other one. Personally, is Sasuke is the prise, then I'd hate to enter that contest." With that Naruto and Ayame shared a nice laugh.

"I'd hate to see what the second place prise would be?" Lucien said as he, Haku, and Kanna dropped down back into the campsite. If one looked closely, they could see that Kanna's face had tear streaks and Lucien's shirt was soaked.

"So you three are back? How did everything go?" Ayame asked.

"It went as fine as a funeral can I guess." Kanna told them. "I had a good cry for my team but Lucien-kun was here for me."

"So what'd you do with the dead bodies of the sound ninja?" Naruto asked.

"Left them to rod. Their corpses shall feed the ravens." Lucien told them with malice in his voice.

"Aw isn't he so poetic." Kanna leaned her head on Lucien's shoulder.

"Uh yeah. Hey Lucien remind me NEVER to piss you off alright. I don't want you to do to me what you did to them." Naruto joked.

"Noted. Though honestly, I think that pissing you off would be much more dangerous."

"With all due respect to both of you, I suggest that we call it a night early. That way we can get to the tower early and pass with a day to spare."

"Good idea Haku." Ayame said. It's been a long day anyway, and we all need our rest for the next phase. With that said, team one went to sleep to end their third day of the exams.

Meanwhile, Ino had regrouped with her team and they were trying to repair the damage that had been done by Ino getting caught.

"I'm telling you though, I know where we can find another scroll. In fact, it's a set of scrolls." Ino yelled.

"Yeah, yeah that's what you said the last time and we lost ours Ino. It'd be far too troublesome to end up in a similar situation."

"Yeah but if all three of us go, we can uncover any traps that they set and the set of scrolls will be ours. It's foolproof."

"Yeah but Ino, you never explained why they would bury a set of scrolls to begin with. I mean, why bury them?" Choji wondered.

"I think it's in case they lose their set somehow, then they'll have themselves a backup. We can go over to where they buried them and then we'll pass this part of the exam. What do you guys say?"

"Ino, do you even know where the scrolls are buried? I mean knowing that they are buried does nothing for us if we can't find the spot. And looking all over the forest would be so troublesome."

"Of course I do. They left at 11:00 on the button from their campsite heading straight towards the Sun. I can find their campsite again, so all we need to do is go around their camp and align ourselves properly."

"I'm not sure about this though Ino. I mean they had to have trapped the site."

"It sounds likely Choji that they trapped it, however at this point it would be incredibly troublesome to find another set. If the intel that Ino got us is credible and not bugged then it's the only way. Let's head out now for the site where the scrolls are buried. I agree with Choji though that this gives me a eery feel. We need to work fast."

"Why now though? It's going to be hard to find the location in the dark. Why not wait until sunrise?" Ino wondered.

"Because there's a good chance that someone will have the spot guarded during the day and then we'd be spotted. If they really took Sasuke's scroll and have two more members then us, then there's no way we'd be able to compete. Come on, we're burning night light. Geez what a drag."

Through the night team ten worked trying to find the site where team one buried their scrolls. They had walked for about an hour looking for the site and had thus far found nothing before Shikamaru smelled something.

"What is it Shika? Did you find anything?" Choji wondered.

"I smell blood and it's close. There's a good chance that the scrolls are very close to here." Every member of team ten looked around. Now, the smell of blood was apparent in the area. Ino turned around to look, and what awaited her, was the mangled corpse of Zaku. Ino screamed and turned around.

"Ino what's wrong? It's troublesome to scream here."

"Shikamaru. It's a body mangled and stabbed. It's one of the ninja that attacked Sasuke-kun. Look at him." Shikamaru and Choji looked at the corpse and they too recognized it.

"Woah you're right Ino. I think it is. But where are his teammates?" Choji wondered. Ino backed up until she felt herself step on something that made her trip. She looked at what tripped her up and saw the body of the female sound ninja Kin. Ino backed into a tree and held her hands over her mouth to muffle her screams. Shikamaru and Choji looked at Ino and also saw the mangled body.

"Woah. There's another one. I wonder what happened to the other one?" Choji looked around and tried to smell where more blood was found. After searching, he found the other ninja. Well, he found half of him. "Shika, I found the third."

Shikamaru and Ino walked over to the cut in half ninja and Ino immediately puked. Shikamaru paled while Choji just stood there in shock.

"Who could have done something like this? The carnage here is unbelievable. Did Naruto, Lucien, Ayame, and the other two do this?" Choji wondered.

"I don't know. But I feel that we should get out of here. This place doesn't sit right with me." After saying that, Shikamaru turned around and got a view of something in a clearing. Curiously, he walked towards the clearing to see three graves, each lined by a marker. Ino and Choji followed him to the site.

"Hey Shikamaru, I think you found the scroll spot. Go on, dig for them." Ino ordered.

"I don't know Ino. These all look like grave markers. It would be kind of unethical to disturb them." Choji objected.

"Oh came on Choji, I bet they're just disguised to look like graves. I mean the bodies are over there. Why would someone make graves and just leave the corpses. An oversight if you ask me. So, guys, get to it. I don't have all night."

"I say we dig, but Ino, you're digging with us. You're probably right about how they would use the graves to try to keep people away because nobody would rob a grave and their scrolls would be safe. Sound strategy. Ino, you take the right, I'll take center, Choji, you take left."

"Why are you making me dig though? I'm a girl and I shouldn't have to dig. That should be left to the boys."

"Either you dig or nobody does. It's way too troublesome to dig up two patches anyway." Ino accepted with reluctance and began to dig in her designated spot. After about a half hour of digging, Choji had found a scroll. He also found a dead body alongside it.

"Woah, they really are graves. Look, there's a corpse along with the scroll. Now I really don't feel good about this. It feels like grave robbing." After a little while, Shikamaru came up with a second scroll and another dead body.

"I agree with Choji. I don't feel good at all about this. Grave robbing is too troublesome even if it will get us to pass the exam."

"Come on you guys, it's not that bad. I mean we need to pass this exam or else Sasuke-kun will, HOLY KAMI!!" Ino screamed as she crawled into a tree while looking completely paralyzed.

"Ino, what's wrong? What was in there? Was it someone we know?" Choji asked.

"No it's, it's a ghost. That girl that was with Lucien was a ghost."

"What are you rambling about Ino?"

"The green haired girl in Lucien, Naruto, and Ayame's team. She was buried in that grave. I know it. They're completely the same."

"What do you mean completely the same Ino?" Choji asked.

"I mean they're the same Choji. Exactly the same. Same face. Same body. Same hair. Perfectly identical. Let's just take the scrolls and get out of here now. This place freaks me out."

"I don't know Ino. I don't think that we should lift scrolls from a grave site It's just wrong." Choji protested.

"Look, we need to pass the exam no matter what. It's unfair that these scrolls just go to waste. Now let's get outta here."

"I agree with Choji, Ino. We can't lift these scrolls. If my mom found out that I lifted from a grave, I'd never hear the end of it. I say we put them back and find another way."

"No. Look I'm team captain and I say we take them. You both said that it would be best if I was the captain and as captain we take them. Now let's get out of here." Reluctantly, team ten took the scrolls but neglected to cover up the bodies. A mistake that would cost them later in the exams.

It was a quiet night for team one and all of them got a good amount of rest. They had just had breakfast and they wanted to check by the grave site for Raku and Anta one last time before the next stage of the exam. They were absolutely appauled to find all the graves uncovered and the scrolls missing. Kanna cried and the rest of the team was emitting dangerous levels of murderous intent.

"Who on earth would do something as horrible as to rob a grave?" Ayame wondered. "And another thing, how did they even know about the fact that the scrolls were buried and even the site as to where."

Naruto's eyes began to turn red from rage. He wondered who would dare to disturb the dead. Who would be low enough to rob the dead. It was an act of the lowest of the low.

Haku was not an emotional person. He was very straightforward and calm at all times. Now he only thought about what he would feel if somebody would dare remove the sword that he placed on Zabuza's grave. He now related to what the others were feeling.

Kanna was devastated. First, her team had been ruthlessly slaughtered right in front of her eyes and now their bodies, who had been put to rest had been defiled and robbed. She wondered if her team would ever be able to fully rest.

Lucien, as with Naruto, was enraged. Not even a full day after they were buried, and they had already been dug up. He knew that this was not easy for anyone, but poor Kanna had to put up with travesty after travesty and this was absolutely the worst.

"Look I know that this is hard on everyone, but we must calm down." Haku said barely holding himself together. "The people who did this have to be at the tower. When we get to the tower we'll find the people who did this and get them then. But now we must stay calm and finish the exam." Everybody calmed down at least a bit after Haku's speech. Lucien tried to calm Kanna down and the three reburied the bodies and gave them their final respects before heading off to the tower.

At the tower there was an inscription written on a plaque but the team disregarded it as pointless barrage of crap. Obviously they were still bitter about the grave robbing incident. They opened the scrolls and out popped Mirage.

"Nicely done guys, you passed with plenty of time to spare. What's wrong and who's the new addition to our team?"

"She's Kanna. We met her before the exams started and made a truce with her team Kaa-sensei. Her team was killed by sound ninja and Lucien resurrected her."

"Oh I'm so sorry Kanna for your loss. Just to let you know though, that I will care for you as will this team. We're all here for you."

"Thanks Kushina-sama. Oops I'm sorry, Mirage-sama. Lucien-kun told me a little about you, and I am honored to meet you. Your whole team spoke endless praises about how cool you are." Kanna said as she bowed to Mirage.

"You don't need to be formal with me Kanna. Mirage is fine. But did I hear you say Lucien-KUN. Aw how cute, Lucien's got a girlfriend. I must say, she is cute."

"Is that completely necessary?" Lucien deadpanned while Kanna giggled.

"Yes. However something else seems off with you guys and I think that it has something to do with the ghost that team ten reported."

"What?" everybody in the group wondered.

"Ino Yamanaka of team ten is telling everyone in Konoha that there is a ghost in your team. She said that she saw the corpse of a ninja in the forest that matched the profile of Kanna perfectly. At least that's what she claims." Kushina now saw the rage in everyone else's eyes. She asked them what happened in the forest and she heard the story from the fight where Kanna lost her life, to when they found the mutilated grave site Kushina was shocked and pissed off like nobody on the team had ever seen.

"Why of all the. This is. How in the world could they. Oh they are so gonna get it." Kushina was so angry that she couldn't even form coherent sentences. After a brief talk and a slight calm down, team one reached the main lobby where several of the teams were lounging around, while Ino was gossiping to anyone who would listen about the "ghost". Upon seeing Ino, Kanna ran out in front of the group in attempt to kill Ino, but Lucien was very fast and was able to subdue her. Ino saw the look of pure rage and anger in her face and backed away while pointing at the ghost.

"Whoa Ino, they are identical just like you said. But I still say what we did to get those graves was wrong. Look whoever you are, I deeply regret what we did. And for the record, I didn't want to dig anything up." Shikamaru sighed. Choji came up to the group and apologized as well as asking for how he could make it up to them. Reluctantly, Kanna forgave the two boys for their sincerity before marching up to Ino.

"Listen you. I'm. No. Ghost. I'm real and the graves that you dug up and your team dug up and stole from belonged to my twin sister who's now dead. I hope that you're satisfied with what you did, because you have no soul." Kanna slapped Ino across the face and stormed off with Lucien and Haku in tow. However, Lucien left Ino with a message.

"Be careful. If we meet at all in the next phase of the exam, I'll make you pay for what you did to Kanna. Should we meet, quit, because I don't want to be responsible for what I do to you."

Ino's eyes were wide with shock as she cradled her cheek that was enthralled with pain. Naruto and Ayame cast a pitiful look at Ino.

"Hey, don't blame me. You are the ones who buried them. If you didn't want them taken, then don't bury them unprotected."

"We put them them there to honor their fallen team. You defiled that by robbing them. Don't just worry about Lucien in the next exam, because I guarantee you that all of us will do the same thing." Naruto spoke with an air of eerie calmness. "Come on Ayame-chan let's get out of here."

Naruto and Ayame left Ino there who was in her mind trying to tell herself that what she did was truly the right thing. Even though she knew in her mind that it was wrong.

Time ticked by in the following days and all the teams lined up to take the third exam. Sasuke's team had found a way to pass and were pissed at team one for making them bait for Orochimaru. Even though they were angry at themselves for being such obvious bait. Of course the gossip Ino, was trying desperately to have team one taken out of the exams because she was afraid of them. She felt excluded from the rest of the group. Ever since they heard about what she did, only Sakura and her were civil to her from Konoha.

The teams that did pass were the Suna team, who shattered the previous record, all four rookie teams, and the team with Neji Hyuuga and Kabuto's team all passed. Also, a team from Kumo passed making it a pretty much all Konoha third exam.

The third exam was a tournament complete with preliminary. Winning the preliminary match puts them in the final rounds where the real judging for the exams would take place. Two people would be randomly selected from the group and they would do battle. The first spin of the wheel pictured a match-up that terrified Ino to the core. She backed up against the edge of the arena while wishing that this was only a dream.

Ino Yamanaka vs Lucien

...

Yikes. This ends the second phase of the exams and I got massive fight scenes coming up.

I went passed all the boring crap about the sign because I honestly don't feel it to be relevant to how team one is crafted.

I always saw Ino as someone who was aggressive and would never quit no matter what. Even at the cost of robbing a grave in this case. She could redeem herself, but not until WAY later will the possibility arise of her redemption. She's twelve and will act immature for a while longer.

I really don't write anything graphic. Not really me, and Naruto and Ayame are very young, so I will have romantic moments but not detailed make-outs or anything more. Thus that scene was a bit lame.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Please Quit Ino

Please Review


	14. Just Quit Ino

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 14: Just Quit Ino

Been a while I know, but with everything going on the last few weeks, I just couldn't get to my writing. But let me start with my usual going over the reviews.

DeExil: Oh yeah gotta love em. That's the two of us bro. Never was a Sakura pre-skip fan. But at least they grew up right. Yeah it was a bit too sappy.

Zero Sakura Cross: Yeah she is. Nice play on words with the scepter comment. I really didn't see the box because I rarely go over my work after I release it. If I did I'd be tempted to change something. My vocab and word mistakes come because I can only write at night.

Atlantis-rob: I wanted to make Choji in character and I think that he would respond the way he did. Thanks for the compliments.

The Fallen Lord: Sorry for the late entry. But don't worry, the torture begins very soon.

Joseph33795: Yeah it was. And yes she will regret it.

Cooltony101neo: Yeah, unfortunately they can't all be unbelivably amazing. I hope this redeems it.

Arsenel: He can resurrect them, but not control them. It's like adding members to the team. If say Haku wanted to kill Lucien he could. Yeah I do need to reread for content, but I've never been good with grammar and need a beta horribly. I'm not the best at hitting emotional levels, but I will try to do that in the next arc and meetings. Thank you for the comment. Hope you keep reading.

Dshaodragon: Thanks. I can be evil if I really feel like it.

Cool up to seventy reviews. I can smell 100 coming up very soon.

Let's get on with the show after the disclaimer. Don't own Naruto or Valkyrie Profile.

...

Ino was scared. She backed up until her back was against the wall of the top floor of the arena. Normally, Lucien didn't scare her too much, but she knew that he was very upset at her specifically and she had no clue how far he would go. She felt Shikamaru's hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, what happened in the forest was troublesome and I still don't like what you did. That being said, if things get too out of hand, I will get in there and stop this. So don't worry."

"As will I. We're a team Ino, whether we are arguing or not. If he gets out of hand I will come in there myself as well and run him into the ground."

"Thanks you two. You really are friends aren't you?"

"Yeah but it would save us all a ton of trouble if you just quit now. I mean stopping a raging person is so troublesome." Ino knew that Shikamaru wouldn't joke around like that if he didn't think that she would make it out, but still she was a bit concerned at what the volatile Lucien would do. After all, he was very protective of Kanna. With a bit of swagger, Ino made her way down to the arena, knowing that Sasuke would be watching her.

Meanwhile, Lucien's face was blank and unnerving. Everyone knew that he wanted to get his hands on Ino. It was obvious to everyone who heard about what happened. Team one was worried that their teammate would repeat what he did in the forest against the ones who killed Kanna in the first place. Lucien turned over to Kanna, whose face was blank as well. He gently put his hand on her shoulder and looked her right in the eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything too drastic. I'll do three things here. One, win the match. Two, make her pay for what she did. Three, I'll do it without even laying a finger on her."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Naruto asked. "I mean that sounds kind of impossible."

"Haku taught me a way that Zabuza taught him. It was so effective, that people who come into it unprepared and already nervous don't stand a chance." Lucien then made his way down to the arena and stood opposite of Ino and the proctor started the match.

"I wonder Ino, did you see the damage that I did to the people who killed Kanna's sister? You know, the bodies of the three sound ninja?" Lucien smirked.

"T-t-that was you? No way, not even after Sasuke-kun injured them that you could do that kind of damage."

"Oh I did. And I did it using the jutsu I'm about to show you right now. I'll give you a final chance Ino, give up now and I guarantee that nothing will happen to you."

"No. I won't let you try to bully me out of this match. I've got support from my team, and my friends. Plus, I will show Sasuke-kun just how strong I've gotten."

"I see. In that case, I am sorry that you have to experience this." Lucien reached into his back and pulled out two identical scrolls. Everyone was curious as to the contents of the scroll and were a bit stunned when only a bunch of water came out of it. Haku knew what Lucien was planning and Naruto, Ayame, Kushina, and even Kanna had a good idea of what he was doing.

Sure enough, Lucien gathered as much chakra as possible and created the Hidden Mist Jutsu. Every jonin and above shinobi were floored.

"What is this Kakashi-sensei? I can't see a thing." Sakura wondered.

"It's the Hidden Mist Jutsu. One of the secret jutsu's of Kiri. Though, because they didn't want everybody learning it and picking apart the strengths and weaknesses of it, they would only teach it to a select few. The seven swordsmen. I have no idea though how this kid knows it."

"So other then creating a fog, what else does it do?" Sasuke asked.

"I have no idea. As I said, this jutsu is very select and Kiri doesn't want every rouge ninja from their village teaching it to others." Kakashi looked to where team one was stationed. He saw the two ninja from Kiri that were hanging around the team and somehow knew that one of them was responsible for this act.

"So you made it so that we both can't see. Is that you're big trump card? Cause if it is, I'll win this fight in no time."

"There are eight points that contain the vitals of the human body." Ino looked around to find the source of his voice, but couldn't tell because it was coming from everywhere at once. She internally had a bad feeling about this.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an image of Lucien run right at her heart. She tried to guard the spot, but couldn't get her kunai down fast enough. She screamed in pure terror, only to see his image go right through her.

"There's the first time that I could have taken your life. Do I need to say anything else, or do you actually want me to finish you?"

Shikamaru and Choji were scared stiff when they heard Ino scream. They feared for the worst until they heard what Lucien said. Even now though, they wanted to get in there and break it up. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't see a thing.

Ino had just recovered from the recent illusion and again looked around. Her opponent had already shown the ability to take her down in a single attack, and she was well aware to the fact that he could do it again. However, she couldn't see a single thing that he was doing. While looking around, she again saw a flash of him going after her neck. She was so horrified that she froze, enabling him again to go straight through her.

"There's number two, the neck. After I hit point number five, it will all be real Ino. Just give in."

Ino again looked all around. She was scared out of her wits now and incredibly desperate. She knew that she had to hit a big move and take out the fog. Yet none of the abilities that she possessed allowed her to get rid of the fog. What she needed was a wind ninjutsu, but she didn't have one in her arsenal. She decided that she could only use one jutsu to get her out of this situation. A disparate move for a disparate girl. She put her hands together and called out her family's ninjutsu for mind transfer.

Shikamaru knew that things looked very grim for his teammate and friend. He was also able to see now what Lucien was really doing to Ino. "Mind torture." Shikamaru muttered.

"What do you mean?" Choji asked.

"He's playing with her mind. Using basic bunshin to simulate attacks and show Ino her own death on several occasions and now he put her in a helpless state by using that jutsu and missing. I just wonder how far he'll take this. Or, for that matter, how long she'll last."

"Very good assessment Shikamaru." Asuma told him. "I'm worried for her too. I'm tempted to stop this match now. There's no telling how Ino will react to this kind of torture. It's one thing to break the body, but a broken mind is much more difficult."

"How exactly is it different Asuma-sensei?" Choji asked.

"The mind controls the body. If Ino's mind breaks here, then she may need to undergo serious therapy. For example, she may develop a permanent fear of fogs or water, making her very susceptible to those in the future. The body is easy to fix, but the mind is not."

The fact that Ino was in the limbo between minds, told her that she missed. The limbo gave her a small look at the fight where she saw herself potentially die another two times.

She returned to her body downright terrorized. Scared beyond all reason. Her heart rate was reaching a very high level and she was starting to feel very dizzy. Allowing her no time to recover, Lucien sent a bunshin to attack her lungs and she finally lost it.

"Stop it! Screw the match just let me go okay. I'm sorry I dug up the scrolls. I'm sorry I hurt the girl. And I'm sorry that I tampered with the bodies of the dead. Just please let me go." Ino collapsed on the floor and cried loudly, just praying that the onslaught on her mind would finally stop. Sure enough, the fog lifted and standing right in front of Ino with a possibly regretful look was Lucien. He gave her a bow and silently walked up the stairs before he was stopped by Sakura and team ten.

"What the hell were you doing down there? Do you have any idea what you may have done?" Sakura screamed at him. Lucien looked unfazed.

"I gave her a shot to quit several times. It's not my problem if she never took the advice."

"Yeah but you still went way too far. I am sorry about what she did. As horrible as it was, but you still didn't have to go that far." Choji yelled.

"I agree. Look at her, crying her eyes out, and full of so much terror that she can hardly even move. Was it really worth it?" Shikamaru told him.

Lucien said nothing and just walked off before Asuma grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around to face him. His eyes showed an extreme amount of anger at the boy for what he did to his student.

"Listen you brat. I don't care about what Ino did to you or the girl but this is inexcusable. As a shinobi of Konoha, I expect you to act a certain way and if you don't there will be repercussions. Do you understand me?"

"Hands off Asuma." Kushina entered. "Fact is, when you entered your students in this exam you knew that a possibility of this could happen. So back off my student and let me take responsibility for his behavior. Cause last time I checked, you have no authority over the way my shinobi act."

"Oh, and do you condone your shinobi giving horrible and awful torture to fellow shinobi? If so then you have no right to be called sensei and I will see to have you removed."

"Oh, and what kind of technique did Ino know to get out of that technique? Wind is your specialty is it not?" Asuma nodded. "As I thought. Then in that case get your shinobi together and actually train them in your specialty. Oh and by the way," Kushina appeared behind Asuma and kneed him in the ribs. "If you ever threaten my student again, or use your father to threaten me, then I won't hesitate to retaliate." With that Kushina took Lucien away to meet with his team. Immediately Kanna ran right into him and wrapped him in a fierce hug.

"So, what do you think Kanna? Do you think that I went too far with her?"

"No. But I feel bad. Because you wanted to avenge Anta and Raku, now you're in big trouble. And I really don't want to be apart of that. I'm really happy that you would fight that hard for them, yet I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing will happen to him." Kushina said. "What he did was all legal in the rules. They're just mad because they were close to Ino. Personally, I feel that it's about time she got a hard look at reality no matter how awful they see it. They really pamper anyone from a clan. If this happen to Sakura, Ayame, Haku, Kanna, or even Naruto-kun, nobody would give a damn."

"Kaa-sensei is right. They weren't there to see Kanna's reaction and they have no idea about what they did."

"It's a lesson I had to learn the hard way under Zabuza-sama. Those who are unprepared die. Somewhere, he's rolling in his grave at the weakness of this village."

"I agree with all of you. I mean, if Lucien didn't do what he did, I'd put her in a hold and lock it until her arm falls off."

"Thanks guys. It's great to have allies that have your back. I guess that's why they're so pissed off over there. Man though I'm tired. Using the Hidden Mist Jutsu and all those bunshin really wore me out. How did Zabuza use this and still have all that energy? I'm exhausted."

"All of your reserves have just begun reaching the secondary level of development. During this time, your reserves can hit a huge increase very quickly if they train hard enough. Zabuza had hit his final level of chakra development and had far more reserves then any of you. Of course, Naruto-kun has much more chakra then even thought possible due to certain factors."

Team one watched as team ten helped Ino move off of the arena and watched as the board flew by for the next match to begin. The board finally stopped on Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno.

Ayame never really liked Hinata for pretty obvious reasons. Yet, at the same time, respected her because of how devoted she was to Naruto. Hinata was full of confidence.

She knew that she could could defeat Sakura. Sakura was a girl who was very bright and had a good mind for tactics and she excelled at the very basics. However, she had a laughable amount of chakra, and very little physical strength. Plus, it didn't hurt her case that she held a small, tiny vendetta against Sakura for the way that she hurt Naruto after all those years.

Sakura was still livid after the last match, but didn't really want to have to take it out on Hinata. Hinata was really shy and one of the nicest girls in the world. Plus, she didn't seem to like Sasuke for some odd reason to her. Sakura wondered if the reason was that she liked girls instead. She figured that with all the blushing around the girls maybe that's the way she swung. The thought never occurred to her that two girls preferred Naruto to Sasuke.

As a Hyuuga, Hinata had enormous reserves, strength, and speed for a gennin kunoichi and Sakura would definitely have to be careful of that. Also, the eyes Hinata had, made it very difficult to get close. However, Hinata was very shy and not confident of herself at all. Sakura would need to use that insecurity to win. She also knew that the longer that the match went, the more confidence Hinata would get in the fight. Sakura would have to win the match quickly.

"Look Hinata, nothing personal to you or anything, but I have to beat you so I can get back at those team one assholes who tortured Ino-pig like that."

"W-what do you mean? All team one?" Hinata replied.

"You know, Ayame, Lucien, Naruto, and those two other jerks alongside them." Something Sakura said there lit a small fire in Hinata and her face showed it. The face of a usual timid girl was gone and she now looked to be a bit upset.

"What's wrong? Did those jerks do something to you too? I wouldn't put it past any of them. Lucien is the worlds biggest asshole, Ayame is a complete bitch to everyone, and Naruto is a loser who will never come close to ..."

"Shut up." Everyone was stunned at Hinata's small outburst. It really came out of nowhere. Hinata had never spoken up to anyone before. Girls would ask her for food all the time in the academy and she always gave it to them. Even if she didn't have enough for herself. The girl had the backbone of an amoeba, and now she looked ready to rip Sakura in half. "Don't ever talk about him like that."

"Who Lucien? You mean that you actually like that ass? You can't be serious. In that case, maybe I'll do to you what your boyfriend did to Ino. Maybe then he'll see what it's like to have someone, though weak, be brutally massacred."

"Wow," Lucien muttered. "Just wow. Is there something wrong with that girl or what? Cause I think that little Hinata is about ready to rip her head off."

"No way. She looks WAY too mad to just rip her head off." Kanna added. "She most likely wants to remove the girl's fingernails one by one."

"Hey Lucien," Naruto added, "did you know that Hinata liked you? Cause it's a total shock to me. I mean I never saw it coming." The rest of team one just smacked themselves in the head at the utter denseness of their teammate. Kanna felt a bit jealous and it showed when she hugged Lucien's arm tighter then normal while glaring at Hinata. Haku felt bad for Sakura because he learned two things from Zabuza. He learned how to be a shinobi, and a pissed off girl is a truly frightening thing.

The match begun and Hinata activated her Byakugan. She then launched a full-scale assault on Sakura who was barely able to avoid the bulk of the blows. However, her arm got tapped and it hung to her side lifeless.

Sakura knew that this Hinata would rip her apart right now, so she had to plan. She had gotten under Hinata's skin and thus she would be more open to a trap. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of kunai and threw them at the Hyuuga.

Hinata elegantly dodged the attack and then pressed her assault on Sakura. Palm thrust after palm thrust were launched from the point of Hinata, and Sakura was having trouble keeping up with her. She finally was able to get away from Hinata and put a bit of distance between the two. Her arm was getting close to back to normal, but she had taken numerous shots in her ribs and chest. Her breathing was beginning to get heavy yet painful at the same time.

As an attempt to throw Hinata off, Sakura created three bunshin and went after Hinata, but the Hyuuga wasn't fooled at all. She went for another palm thrust right at the chest of Sakura, but Sakura anticipated the attack and leaped into the air. She then put her legs around Hinata's neck and swung her to the ground.

Hinata skidded halfway across the arena, and Sakura was having trouble getting up. Hinata was the first one up and was able to dust herself off. However, her face had a small bruise on it and she had scrapes across her arms. Sakura was followed and she knew that she was clearly losing the fight.

Her initial strategy was to intimidate the shy Hyuuga, but that obviously failed. Her plan B, was to fight her head on, and currently it was going very poorly. That left her to improvise with a plan C. She needed to fight Hinata indirectly and wear the girl down. The question was how to do that. Looking back on what worked, the only thing that had any sort of effect was by changing her speed in attacking the girl. Sakura didn't know if the same trick would work twice on Hinata, but still it was better then anything she had previously tried.

She got up and charged Hinata again, this time using chakra to speed her up and try and throw the Hyuuga off balance. It worked and Sakura got in a slide tackle in on Hinata's feet. However, Hinata stuck her hands on the ground and didn't fall. Sakura tried to get up, but Hinata was far faster then the pinkette. She went in for another assault before Sakura could even get up, and she never saw the attack coming, before Hinata was able to take out a crucial chakra point in Sakura's shoulder rendering the poor girl unconscious.

Hinata was announced as the winner and she went up the stairs to the second floor, where she passed by team one. When she arrived, she immediately averted her eyes from where Naruto and Ayame were. Unfortunately for her, her gaze landed on Lucien and Kanna, where Kanna glared at Hinata, hard. Hinata nervously twiddled her thumbs and walked away to where her team was standing.

"Well, good thing that wasn't awkward or anything?" Lucien remarked.

"That was an interesting match. The pinkette was clearly outmatched, yet she was resourceful enough to make the match seem respectable." Haku added.

"I don't know. I mean Sakura I thought would be much better then this after her training. Her progress isn't that great." Ayame added.

"Maybe it was my crush on her, but I thought that Sakura-chan was much better then this. I mean with her grades and everything, I assumed that she would be awesome."

"Well Naruto-kun you're right on this. The best shinobi aren't the ones with amazing chakra or jutsu, but the ones who can apply themselves and use their minds. You'll never see a stupid jonin with obvious weaknesses. Sakura over there can think well, but her conditioning is poor and capacity is downright awful."

"Plus, she looks a tiny bit underweight. Kinda like her diet is kinda off. Can't train well without eating well." Kanna added.

"Very good Kanna. You seem to be knowledgeable about weight. Most girls think that eating less is healthy. It's refreshing to hear that some girls actually have a mind about this stuff." Ayame added.

"Yeah, well for my training, I had to have a very balanced and strict diet. I had to eat exactly what I was told and when. If I didn't then I would be punished. And damn do I look fantastic because of it. Don't you think so Lucien-kun?" Kanna took the time to pose in a fairly suggestive position, to which Lucien looked away blushing while the others laughed at the situation.

However, nobody was laughing at all when they saw the next match up.

Naruto Uzumaki vs Kankouro.

Naruto knew that he was in for a rough fight against the sand ninja that he met in the streets of the village before the exams even started.

...

Again so sorry about being late on posting this. I've been really busy and everything. However, my schedule is starting to clear up a bit, so I hope to be more consistent. You should see the Naruto, Kankouro fight next week.

Fans of Tanebi, I'm also working on the next chapter of that. Expect it up by possibly Sunday if I get on a roll, but you'll likely see it on Monday.

Keep in mind, I actually like Asuma, Shikamaru, and Choji at this point in the story. However, they are all close to Ino and I feel would thus get them riled up in a scenario like this one. Some may think that I let Ino off the hook kinda easily, trust me, she didn't. You'll see why a bit later, but trust me, she is going to suffer through this for a while.

I didn't want every Mist ninja in the world to know the Hidden Mist Jutsu. Haku only knew it because he was an associate of Zabuza. But in that event I wanted to make it selective, but not impossible for a gennin to do. Again let me say, Naruto is the main character. He is the strongest of the three and will remain that way. I'm keeping his strength hidden until the next fight.

I got all the fights in the prelims all planned out so everything should come much faster as well as better.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Puppet Master

Please review.


	15. Puppet Master

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 15: Puppeteer

Welcome one and welcome all. Before I go on, let my address my reviews which are slowly reaching 100.

Scione: Ino will have issues from this. You'll see what I do with her and how the entire situation plays out. And yes, Hinata still loves Naruto.

Alone Shadow Dream: Thanks bro.

The Fallen Lord: I never did either. Though I have seen the Hidden Mist used. Bunshins were used because I know that they have to be useful for something. I think that in order for Sakura to truly realize how weak she is, she needs to see the truth about Sasuke. You'll notice that she only got stronger when she started falling for Naruto.

Zero Sakura Cross: Total believer in the mental torture. It's harder for the mind to heal then the body. Not sure about Hinata whipping Ino or Sakura for the sole purpose in I don't think that her character would want that. Her timidness wouldn't really want to harm, just protect. Never do that if you value your life. On comment 4, uhhh thanks? Thanks for the review.

Joseph33795: Thanks. I prefer quality over quantity any day of the week. I won't release something that I feel sucks. It's awesome that you agree. That said, I won't be too late from now on until midterm time.

Atlantis-rob: I felt that I kept everybody's responses close to how they would really react. I'm glad that you liked the setup for the next fight.

Cooltonyneo101: Thanks. I'll try to not disappoint.

Dshadodragon: You know, this match had such possibilities. It just never happened. I believe that this could be a fun one to write.

Bandqsecurtiyaw: Thanks a ton.

Somebody actually sent me an e-mail, not a review, so I don't know if you want me to address you by name or not, so I won't. But anyway, it's about perspective. You're thinking along the lines that Ino did and by that way of thinking, you're totally right. Ino wanted to complete the mission and did so. That also explains why everyone else reacted to Lucien the way that they did.

However, I also believe that ninja held great respect for their fallen shinobi. Simply because they gave their lives for the safety of their village. So I can assume that disrespecting the resting place of the dead would make a lot of people angry. Especially, the one's that are the closest. The event really hurt Kanna, and Lucien is kind of protective of her. That explains his way of thinking. So who's right or wrong depends on which side you're looking at.

Wow, a full page dedicated to reviews. New record. If this keeps up, I may have to address reviews on my page. Well here we go.

...

Naruto looked up at the screen intensely. The time for joking and laughing was now over and Naruto had to focus on the enemy at hand. This particular enemy was an older and more experienced gennin in Kankuro of the Sand. Naruto knew that in order for him to advance to the next round of the exams, then he would need to be on his best game here.

Kankuro himself was relishing this moment. For him, this was a shot at getting back at the gennin who embarrassed him in the streets of the village earlier in the exams. He could tell though that this gennin was better then what he showed. Looking at the way he held himself. Naruto was a shinobi who was confident despite having tough competition. Kankuro knew that he had to give everything to win. He couldn't leave anything out on the floor if he was going to win.

Both competitors walked silently and confidently down to the base of the arena and stood about fifteen feet away from one another. The gennin exchanged glances and both released a hefty amount of killing intent. So much in fact, that every gennin in the room could feel the pressure.

Most of the gennin from Konoha felt that Naruto had no shot. That he was nothing and this defeat would just be the icing on the cake. Only a few believed that he stood a shot, but only his team felt that he would win the match outright. Nonetheless, this match had the making of being epic.

After what seemed like days of just staring at each other, the match officially began between the two gennin. Kankuro started out the fight on the defensive, letting Naruto just charge the ninja. Kankuro, seeing the charge, began to lay webs of his special thread in an attempt to slow Naruto down.

It worked in the fact that Naruto's initial assault was stopped as his feet got caught in the web that had been laid by the other ninja. Kankuro then went on the advantage and tried to wrap up the presently stunned Naruto with his threads. Naruto, who sensed the attack, untangled himself from the web and opened up the distance between the ninja and himself.

_What's going on here? I know that I was tangled in something, but what? Also where did it come from? What's this guy's secret?_

Back on the balcony, Kiba was nearly laughing at the expense of Naruto's predicament. "Heh, I knew it boy. Naruto talks tough but he can't back it up. This ninja will run right through him."

"I'd watch yourself Kiba," Ayame said getting up in Kiba's face. "Naruto-kun is far stronger then what he lets on now. Especially when his secret taijutsu hasn't even been used yet."

"I don't even know what you see in this guy Ayame. He's weak, loud, and a loser. You'd be better off with a real man like me instead of that loser." Sasuke said coming into the fray.

"And where exactly would that be Sasuke? If you ask me real men don't get utterly humiliated by freaky guys in green jumpsuits." Lucien added.

"Hey, don't bring that up. He just surprised me that's all."

"A ninja needs to be on their guard at all times. Any gennin from Kiri knows that." Kanna told him.

Kankuro smirked as it seemed that he had his opponent on the ropes. Naruto had yet to figure out just what he had been doing the entire time. If everything worked out the way that he wanted to, he wouldn't even need to use his secret weapon. However, in the back of his mind he knew that this opponent could just be holding back and trying to see his attack.

Naruto charged again, this time being careful to avoid any traps that could be on the ground. He knew that if he walked into the wrong trap, the results may be devastating. He felt his foot snag on a rope, and Naruto jumped before doing a flip in mid-air and landed on his feet three feet away from Kankuro. He jumped again and launched a kick at Kankuro's face, which surprised the other ninja greatly. Kankuro was barely able to get away from the attack. In fact, his face got scraped.

Naruto landed on his feet gracefully and got into a new stance that looked odd. His body was slanted at an angle more horizontal then usual. Also, his arms were a bit high and he was bouncing off the soles of his feet.

Kankuro was stunned, and Naruto was able to go after Kankuro through a barrage of jumping and leaping attacks from angles that Kankuro believed that a Konoha ninja shouldn't even be able to do, much less put Kankuro, an elite gennin from Suna, on the complete defensive.

"So, he shows it this early in the exam." Lucien began.

"Yes, it shows you just how highly Naruto-kun thinks of this enemy. I don't think that he wanted to even show this in the prelim."

"What awful form." Kiba commented. "What kind of taijutsu is this?"

"A unique taijutsu that sensei taught him." Ayame started. "A criticism of Naruto-kun was that he could hardly ever stand still. Traditional taijutsu styles as such would fail for Naruto-kun to use them well. But this is different. Using a variety of fast aerial acrobatics and precision kicks, he can literally strike from anywhere and everywhere throwing an enemy off his guard."

"Hn. I'm not really impressed. My eyes could track him easily enough." Sasuke said.

"It's one thing to see it. It's another to counter. His aerial attacks are incredibly deceptive. Just when it looks like you know where he's going to strike you, he alters his moves." Lucien answered.

Kankuro was clearly struggling. He was bent over and heavily panting. _What's with this kid? All these attacks are like nothing that I've ever seen before. It's so awkward and I've never seen anything close to it. I may need to use Karasu, but this early is not what I want to do. Especially with that, but still I can't be much help if I lose here. Well nobody's really around so using it would really not be too devastating._

"I'll give you this, you're not bad. But even then, you're nowhere in my league. Give up now before I go all out on you."

"Heh, this isn't everything I have either. Bring on your best."

"Oh you have no idea just what I can do. No idea at all." Kankuro then created several strings from his fingertips and activated the bundle on his back. Then, out came a puppet taller then the Suna shinobi and stood in front of the Suna shinobi. "Meet Karasu. You have no chance at defeating him, so why not just give it up now?"

Naruto ran forward and kicked the head off the puppet, only to watch as the head assimilated. "Heh, don't even bother. You see, I control Karasu. No matter how you strike him, I can recreate him."

Grunting and grinding his teeth, Naruto tried to jump over Karasu to try to go after Kankuro, but his puppet launched a flurry of senbon at Naruto. Using his Kage-bunshin, Naruto launched himself faster through the flurry. Once again, however, Kankuro's puppet was faster and attacked Naruto directly.

Just when it seemed that Naruto was going to get impaled by the puppet, Naruto grabbed a hold of the puppet's arm with his legs and propelled himself across the arena.

Realizing that a straightforward attack would prove useless, Naruto tried then to use his speed to blindside Kankuro. However, Kankuro was simply able to use his puppet as a shield to guard against any attack that Naruto would be able to throw at him. Naruto was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

_This is bad. I can't attack through the air or else that puppet gets in my way. But I also can't get an opening if I go around him and attacking that damn thing won't do any good unless I can completely crush the thing._

Naruto didn't even get a chance to complete his strategy because Kankuro had sent his puppet on the offense against Naruto. It mixed up its use of direct offense and indirect firing of senbon. Using midair acrobatics that even Kanna was slightly impressed with, Naruto was able to avoid every single attack that was thrown his way. Still though, he knew that he couldn't withstand this barrage for too much longer.

Naruto, in an attempt to change the course of this battle, summoned a few kage-bunshin and had them surround Kankuro and Karasu. Kankuro was stunned. He knew that these bunshin, unlike normal bunshin, were completely real. As such, he knew that if even one of these bunshin was able to get through his defenses, he would lose.

At the same time, Kankuro smirked knowing that this new offense would prove to be meaningless. Karasu was well prepared to deal with multiple enemies and so this offense was doomed to fail.

At once, Naruto summoned all of the bunshin on the field to try to attack Kankuro directly. Karasu whipped around and shot a barrage of needles at the first bunshin, and it was easily taken out of commission. While that was going on, both clones on the side went right after Kankuro. One of them was attacking with a kick through the air, and the other bunshin was in the process of attacking with a baseball slide.

Kankuro was able to see the attack coming, and barely got out of the way of the attack. In the process of the dodge, Kankuro swiped his arm in a downward motion causing Karasu to stab the bunshin in the air before shooting senbon at the bunshin coming low.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto summoned more of his kage-bunshin to again try the numbers game. This time he summoned four kage bunshin and had them all in a horizontal line with the real Naruto standing center.

Again, Naruto had all of his clones attack the other gennin at the same time. One bunshin went up front with a fist cocked and ready for a hay maker. Two of them went left with one attacking at the face and the other one went for the legs. The final clone stayed back with the real Naruto.

Kankuro moved to the right and took his puppet along with him to force all of the Naruto clones to attack him directly and force them all to get through Karasu. As expected, all three bunshin were now attacking directly and two of them didn't alter their course. One of the ones up front engaged Karasu, and the other one jumped over the puppet and ran after Kankuro. The one that changed its course went left and aimed at Kankuro's midsection.

Karasu quickly disposed of the bunshin that engaged him with a simple stab. The next problem for Kankuro's defense was the clone in front of him. He backpedaled and turned to face the bunshin coming at his side. Karasu attacked the other bunshin that came at him from the front and got to it just before he reached Kankuro. He now saw that the other bunshin that went after him was too close and backed up. However, he didn't expect to back up into a bunshin that nailed Kankuro in the left arm.

Kankuro knew that he was in trouble here. The first thing that he did was have Karasu attack the bunshin behind him and take care of the most dangerous bunshin. He then lifted his right arm to bear the brunt of the attack from the other bunshin before that one was taken care of.

Kankuro was out of the immediate danger, but damage had been done. Both of his arms had taken a huge hit, and as such, his control over Karasu had now been slowed down dramatically. He knew that he needed to finish this fight while he actually had control over Karasu.

Naruto wasn't in much better shape. He had a feeling that just like the Demon Brothers, Kankuro's needles were poisoned. He had been scratched by several of the needles in the fight and the poison was beginning to spread throughout the battle. Each kage bunshin used in this fight was really starting to drain the young fighter.

"This fight is almost over." Lucien stated. "Both Naruto and Kankuro seem to be reaching their limits."

"True, but I think that Kankuro is a little worse off. His control over his puppet seems to be wavering. Without that, I doubt that he can even fight." Ayame added.

"Hn, it looks like that loser has improved." Sasuke added. "In the academy, Naruto wouldn't even be able to scratch this guy."

"Your right Sasuke." Lucien said, shocking the group. "In the academy Naruto lacked the patience and tactical sense needed to fight a guy like Kankuro. With what he knew, he probably would have summoned about a thousand kage bunshin instead of just four."

"Your kidding." Kiba replied. "I mean a thousand is a bit extreme. Also, why would a thousand of them be such a bad thing?"

"He can. I've seen him do it." Ayame said.

"I think I know the other one too." Kanna said. "It would be bad is the space. From what we've seen, Naruto's best ability is his speed and maneuverability. Clogging the area with bunshin would hinder his ability to move well."

"There is another reason." Haku told the group. "From what I've seen, Naruto's control of his bunshin is hindered by how many he creates. In other words, if he creates ten kage-bunshin, then he wouldn't have as much control as, say three."

"Good assessment you two." Mirage told Kanna and Haku while ruffling their hair.

"Wait, I'm a bit confused." Kiba wondered. "If Naruto's bunshin are just an extension of him, then how is it harder to control more? Doesn't he do it with his mind?"

"Kinda but no." Ayame replied. "While it is true that the bunshin and Naruto share his mind, he still needs to give them direct orders telepathically. They're kinda like his own personal puppets if you see it like that."

"I still really don't get it."

"It's like walking dogs." Lucien said. "Say you're walking all the dogs in the Inuzuka kennel, you can get them all to walk in the same location right?" Kiba nodded following the explanation. "Well compare that to Naruto's bunshin. Naruto can lead all his bunshin to do one direct task. But when he needs them to do separate attacks, he needs to exact more control and focus over them. It's like walking every dog in the kennel, but telling them to do different things during the walk."

"Oh I get it now. It's like walking the triplets as opposed to just Akamaru."

Kankuro went right back on the offensive at Naruto. Karasu was now shooting senbon at Naruto, and he could barely dodge them all. He knew that he had to hit something big and fast, but he didn't know what. Using more kage bunshin was too risky. It would spread the poison much more quickly then normal which could prove to be fatal. On the other hand, doing nothing would do the same thing. He had to rely on a certain technique. A technique that he'd only used in practice that may work.

Naruto ran full speed ahead towards the wall of the arena. As such, Karasu followed him to the wall. Karasu continued to shoot a bunch of the poisoned senbon after Naruto, which he dodged, and continued to run towards the wall. Just when it looked like Naruto was going to run face first into the wall, he climbed up five steps, and then jumped right at Kankuro.

Ayame widened her eyes. She knew exactly what Naruto was doing. It was a high flying and incredibly risky technique that he had developed. Lucien and the rest of team one had never seen this before, but they could tell that what Naruto was doing was going to hurt.

Karasu threw a volley of senbon at Naruto, but Naruto did a corkscrew in the air and cleared the entire volley. Naruto was now flying after Kankuro unopposed. Kankuro was too wounded and tired to move, and his control of Karasu was slowed down to the point to where he couldn't get there in time either. Naruto's foot connected to the base of Kankuro's skull and both contestants fell to the ground. (1)

The entire arena was floored. They saw the skill, speed, and desperation on the face of both participants, who were now sprawled out. Kankuro was on the ground and his body was underneath Naruto's leg. Both were breathing heavily and completely exhausted. Hayate, the proctor, started to count down from ten in his head. He would hate to have to call this a double knock out, but rules are rules.

Ayame started cheering and yelling for Naruto to get up, and was soon joined by Kanna and Hinata in cheering for Naruto to get up. After a five count, Naruto started to stir himself and get onto a single knee. That knee turned into both legs and now Naruto stood tall. He looked down to his opponent and saw a loose chakra wire coming out of Kankuro's hand.

Alarmed, Naruto looked around and saw Karasu coming right for him. Using every ounce of will and strength in his whole body, Naruto was able to dive away from the charging puppet. Naruto knew that despite everything he had been through in this fight, it wasn't over. Karasu again charged at Naruto. Naruto ran as fast as he could at Karasu and used Karasu as a leap into the air.

Naruto made a dive, and made it look as like Naruto was a missile, before Naruto did a flip in mid-air and landed on the chest of Kankuro. (2)

The entire crowd was dead silent. Kankuro was clearly out and Karasu was limp on the ground. The damage dealt to him by the impact from the velocity and weight was severe. If he didn't get medical help soon. There would be a good chance that Kankuro may die of suffocation.

What nobody knew about though was the state of Naruto. The impact dealt to him was bad too, but not nearly as bad as what happened to Kankuro. Most of the damage dealt to him was due to the collision and the poison. The match would be considered a double knock out if Naruto didn't get up in ten seconds.

Ayame began a small chant of "Na Ru To. Na Ru To." Soon after, she was joined by Kanna, Lucien, Mirage, and even the silent Haku. Naruto now rose to on both knees on the ground. Now, a little bit louder, team one was joined by both teams eight and ten. Again Naruto began to rise to standing on one knee. Louder the chants became, as they were joined by Lee, Tenten, Sora and all the senseis minus Kakashi chanted and cheered for the young gennin to rise.

After beating the count of nine, Naruto rose and stood wobbly on both feet. The gennin watching the match roared in applause for the gennin from Konoha. They completely lost it however when Naruto was declared the winner.

Temari herself felt like she wanted to puke. Here everyone was in a serious competition, and everyone was cheering like a bunch of children. At least that was her cover. On the inside she was worried about her brother. Kankouro had not moved at all since the attack hit. In fact he was starting to shiver which really alarmed her. A team of Konoha medics had arrived as soon as Naruto started to get up and immediately strapped Kankouro to a gurney. Just now, they began to wheel Kankouro away to the hospital.

Gaara had seen the display too. He was encouraged and even excited at the thought of fighting this opponent. He had never seen an opponent, even Temari beat Kankouro the way that Naruto just did. Such a display of life and energy made his blood very appealing and Gaara wanted to be the person who crushed his life. Maybe then, the chaos inside him would be satisfied.

Sasuke had no idea what was going on around him. He was supposed to be the best. The one that everyone wanted to see fight. Yet, all throughout the current course of the exam he had been outclassed. Outclassed first by Rock Lee in the match before the exams even started. Then he was outclassed by the sannin Orochimaru in their encounter in the forest. He wouldn't have passed the second exam if Kabuto hadn't have stepped in. Even now, anything he may have been able to do would surely be outweighed by what Naruto just did. He himself doubted that he could beat Naruto at this point.

He thought to the one time in this exam where he was clearly superior, when he had the power of Orochimaru flowing through him. He knew that he had to have power to eventually kill his brother. He wondered just maybe what more of that power would feel like.

For Kakashi, team one had become much more interesting. First, the boy Lucien had managed to do a jutsu exclusive to Kiri. Not only that, but they were accompanied by two gennin from Kiri, one of which wasn't even registered in the exams. The sensei of the group also had a secret, but for the life of him couldn't figure it out. She seemed so familiar, like someone he knew but he couldn't place it. And now this boy Naruto too. This whole team was a question mark and he couldn't figure it out. It is something though that he would investigate.

Kabuto was worried. He knew that Kankouro was one of the key points for Orochimaru's plan to work. The loss of Kankouro and disappearance of his students was alarming. It seemed that piece after piece of Orochimaru's plan was beginning to crumble. Not only that, but this boy Naruto was an enigma. One that would need to appear on his radar.

For Naruto, this was another dream come true. His entire class of peers minus a few were all cheering and encouraging him on. Next to meeting his mother, and going out with Ayame, this moment was tops in his life.

Ayame and Lucien jumped down to the arena floor and each of them took one of Naruto's shoulders and helped him up the steps. Naruto saw the looks in the eyes of his peers. They all now looked at him with something that he had only seen before in his team. He saw respect in their eyes.

Before Naruto was known as a prankster and dunce. A guy who was quick to anger, and quit when the road got rough. Now here her was, thinking and planning like a true shinobi, fighting and fighting despite pain and fatigue, throwing everything he had at an enemy, and showing the entire world the strength and honor of being a Konoha shinobi.

Naruto limped the way past his peers, before meeting Haku, Kanna, and his mother. For the part of Kushina, it took everything in her power not to embrace her son and tell him how proud she was of him. She did whisper in his ear though how proud she was and how much she loved him before she began to heal him.

That however didn't stop her from scolding him later for that incredibly risky leap.

...

Wow so sorry I'm late. Let me start with my footnotes.

The move I used already exists. Once again, when I need a move I look to wrestling footage. This particular move is a signature move of WWE wrestler Jeff Hardy called Whisper in the Wind.

See 1 but substitute the words Whisper in the Wind, with Swanton Bomb.

Why use wrestling moves? I don't know. These look cool, would be pretty painful, and may work in the shinobi world.

By the way, I'm so glad that I finally have a place to put my story. No longer do I need to put this in the Naruto / Any filter. So that is cool.

I'm on break right now, so I may be able to update by the end of the week, but I won't promise anything, because I badly need to finish (or even start) the next chapter of Tanebi which is way overdue.

Thank you for reading and being patient.

Next Chapter: Temptation

Please review.


	16. Temptation

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 16: Temptation

Fall break is coming to an end. Realizing this, I'm finishing my sprint for two chapters for both stories. So, let's do the reviews.

Zero Sakura Cross: I've actually had that image in my head for a long time. I was thinking maybe Lee for Zangeif's move, but that's a bit too close to the Lotus. Definitely food for thought though.

Joseph33795: Thanks a lot. I'm glad that you liked the fight.

Bandsecurtiyaw: Thanks a lot.

DeExil: I understand your point. The battle to me was a gage to see how strong I felt that he was. Naruto will continue to grow and develop, but now he is at about Kankuro's level which is a top three shinobi at this point in time. I'm glad though that you liked the fight.

Alone shadow dream: Thanks a ton.

Cooltony101neo: I'm glad that you did.

Kraken77: Awesome. I've been a part of that crowd several times. I'm glad that you thought that it was such a good read.

Vash3055: I'm tending not to lean towards a harem. I don't think that I could write one well. However, I do have plans for Hinata. She will find someone.

Hyokage: Maybe an RKO. I don't know though. We'll see. Either that or a Twist of Fate. I'm glad that you liked my additions.

Vegeta-taisho: Yup. Closing in on 100. Thanks for the review.

Saru-chibi: Almost missed you. Yeah overpowered Naruto rarely makes for a good story.

This chapter will be filler. It will feature one fight, but not one of the main characters. Just one that I sort of put together to fill a chapter up and build a bit more drama.

I will also skip a few fights for a few reasons.

This section is moving so slowly and I need to speed things up a bit.

They're unimportant fights really to the story except for the one I wrote about. I want Sora's abilities on display here.

Glad that so many people like the Naruto Swanton Bomb. Now what to call it?

7 away from 100. I feel that I should hit 100 soon. Maybe even after this chapter.

...

Kushina started the healing process on her son with a simple diagnosis. She had noticed so far that he had damaged cartilage in his right knee, broken ribs on both sides, and his appendix needed to be removed. She shook her head at her son's recklessness, yet she knew that it was nothing that she never did when she was that age.

In fact, when she competed in her first chunin exam, she cussed out the first proctor, flipped off the Raikage, and kicked three jonin in the groin. Did she ever receive a lecture for all those from her sensei? Of course then the number increased to four.

During the time that Naruto was getting cured, another fight had begun on the floor of the chunin exam arena between Sasuke and one of the gennin in Kabuto's team. From the viewpoint of everybody watching, Sasuke had some issues. He was on the defensive throughout the entire match, and it didn't look good for the Uchiha prodigy.

After about three minutes of constant beating, Sasuke finally managed to turn the tables and beat his opponent with a move copied from his sharingan. Sasuke was joined by his sensei Kakashi and taken into the back room of the arena.

All of team one, including Naruto who was still getting mended, figured that something was off with Sasuke. Throughout the entire fight he seemed incredibly distracted. Like he wanted to desperately use a certain technique, but never pulled the trigger. He also clutched at the back of his neck five times in the fight.

Shikamaru, Sora, Lee, and Choji were all concerned with Sasuke more then anybody else, and Haku was the only person to notice that. Sora being concerned would make sense. After all, Sasuke was her teammate. The others though were strange. It was as if they were watching the fight in fear of what Sasuke might do. He wondered what could have possibly happened in the forest that would cause them to act like that.

Lucien noticed something else that was off. He sensed something weird in Sasuke's system that he'd never felt before. It was a malicious presence coming from Sasuke that was never there before. While the presence was covering certain parts of his body, it was the strongest in Sasuke's neck, the exact same spot that he had been clutching throughout the fight.

After the fight was over, the board spun through the list of names again and everyone who had yet to fight was on edge. So far, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Kiba, Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Sora, a gennin from Kabuto's team, Tenten, Shino, and Ayame had yet to fight their way through to the next round, and Naruto, Lucien, Sasuke, and Hinata had passed.

After a few antagonizing seconds of the screen flashing, it stopped on the names of Sora, and Sabuko no Temari. The green haired girl smiled and jumped her way down to the arena, while Temari took her time in getting down to the arena. She had a snarl on her face, and was looking for a poor soul to exact revenge of her brother on.

Sora and Temari engaged in a standoff. Both of them had confident smirks graced across their lips. Temari began to reach for the fan strapped across her back, while Sora reached inside of the pouch that she kept at her side.

"Hey Lucien," Ayame started. "You told me that you used to train with Sora when you two were younger right? If so, what can we expect from her?"

"Well, Sora was a year older. As such, she was stronger and faster then me. What our sessions would include, is her trying to work a certain technique into perfection while I would practice my taijutsu on her. Other then that though, we never revealed to much. Though I should mention, she sucks at Shogi."

"I heard that snowball. Repeat it and I'll kick ur sorry arse into next week." Sora yelled while not taking her eyes off Temari.

"Did she ever finish it?" Haku wondered.

"She never did while she trained with me, but that was before she was assigned to her original gennin team. There's a chance that it was finished."

"What was it that you two were training?" Kanna asked.

"I really can't say with secrecy and all that. I'm sure that Pinky and "The Brain" would be able to tell you more about it then I would. After all, she changed it so many times that I wouldn't even be able to recognize it maybe."

The proctor told both of the partipants to begin the match, and off they went. Sora started with a simple punch to the face of Temari, which was easily blocked by Temari's fan. Sora tried a kick at Temari's left side, but Temari was easily able to move her fan over to block it. Temari then brought her fan out as a close range. Sora was able to get away in plenty of time, but was still shocked as to how fast Temari could bring that heavy fan around.

Both opponents were now essentially in the same spots they were to start the match. Sora again charged at the stationary Temari. This time she led with a sweep at the legs. Temari couldn't block this attack with her fan, but elegantly put her fan back on her back and dodged to her right. Sora followed with a punch to the face of Temari, but she was able again to quickly pull out her fan and block the attack. Temari then pushed Sora's arm to the side with her fan, before opening the fan and striking Sora in the side of the head. Quickly, Sora increased the distance between herself and Temari and got back into her combat stance.

Sora reached up to the side of her head where she was hit by the fan. When she touched the spot though, she felt something odd. She felt something warm and sticky. Her worst fears were realized when she saw blood on her hand. Sora had been broken open.

Sora began to panic. She knew that the more she moved, the more blood that she would lose. Should that happen, she would begin to feel dizzy and light headed which would be a disaster. She needed to pull something out that would not have her move much, and she had just the technique to do that.

She reached into her bag and pulled out two small metal balls. Lucien widened his eyes as he knew that those two balls were one of the key components of the technique that she had tested on him so many times before in the past. Sora channeled a large amount of chakra into her hand, and then the chakra went into the balls.

The result was instantaneous. Immediately the balls began to glow and then started to spark. Temari was puzzled as to what the balls were supposed to do. Then she saw the balls begin to grow from about the size of a marble to the size of a golf ball. She switched one of the balls into the other hand and they continued to grow until they were about the size of baseballs.

Sora then threw one of the balls at Temari, but she batted it away with her fan. The problem with Temari's strategy was that the base of her fan was made of. Those two elements combined led to a nasty shock on Temari's end, and the shock numbed her right and dominant arm. Sora then controlled the ball back into her left hand.

Sora threw the ball from her left hand again at Temari, but this time she dodged to her left. Sora then switched the hand that held the other ball to her left and threw again at Temari's new position. Temari ducked to avoid the throw and rolled out of the way to avoid another throw. Temari began to notice that any time Sora missed with one of her throws, the ball would move quickly back into the other girl's arm. That meant that she would likely continue to throw her volley of balls until she ran out of chakra.

Temari could pursue Sora, but with her right arm currently out of commission, that would prove to be very dangerous on her part. Also, with her arm the way it is now, then she would not be able to fully swing her fan around and create the wind that she would need to use her best jutsu.

"Woah, I've never seen a jutsu like this before." Naruto said.

"Yeah, it's the jutsu we worked on. Though at this point, I'd say that she really hasn't improved on it too much. Though she has improved on her control of it."

"You've been hit by those?" Kanna asked worried.

"Yeah, but it wasn't as strong then. Back it it just tingled a bit, but Temari looks like she can't use her arm at all. If that thing hits her spinal cord, it could do major damage."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Kanna said. "Electrical shocks stimulate the nervous system. Repeated shocks to that system can cause major damage to the nerves later in your life."

"Really?" Lucien stated. "Wow, I didn't know that then. Guess I should have though. You really know your anatomy Kanna."

"More like she wants to know his anatomy." Naruto said. This got many different reactions. Haku shook his head, Kushina chuckled, Ayame laughed, Kanna blushed, and Lucien glared. He dared not say anything though because he deserved it, and he knew it.

On the floor, Sora was keeping Temari on the edge of her seat. She had yet to get the feeling of her arm back to her, but it was starting to come back. She knew that in order to win this match, she would need to strike the second that full feeling came back to her arm. Until then, she had to hold out.

Sora though was beginning to get frustrated. She needed to finish the battle soon. The wound that she sustained earlier in the match was beginning to make her feel dizzy, and it was only a matter of time until that would cause her to lose consciousness. The entire left side of her face was a crimson mask now and still bleeding.

Sora pulled both of the balls back to her and held them in a stationary position. Now both she and Temari stood still. Temari was breathing much heavier, but Sora was more drained and losing blood fast. She cursed herself for needing to reveal the full extent of her attack so soon, but it would need to be done.

She poured a large portion of her remaining chakra into the balls, and again they grew in size. Now they were about the size of basketballs. Sora threw the first ball at Temari, and it was easily dodged. What Temari didn't see though, was that unlike before where she would just catch the ball, it ricocheted at an angle that shouldn't even be possible and followed her where ever she moved. Sora launched the second ball, and with a cry of "Lightning Style, Thunder Carnival," the balls were bouncing from wall to wall.

Lucien couldn't believe it. She had finally perfected it the way that she intended. Naruto was just stunned that a gennin his age could come up with a technique like this with the help of only a select few. It really gave Naruto a fresh look and a new perspective. He started to come up with new taijutsu techniques, but this sight gave him the vision of him creating a super mega jutsu of doom, name pending.

Temari was frantically dodging now. She had to end the battle right now. She took both of her arms and grabbed the fan. With a ball in her face, and Sora in her sight, she ripped a cyclone of wind from her fan, trapping the other girl in the torrent of wind.

Sora screamed out in pain and agony as the wind column continued to cut her open and put air into the wounds causing even more pain. Also, the wind was made from Temari's own chakra, and that meant that there was not a possible way that she could escape without giving up.

Temari smirked at the suffering of the other girl. She looked down to where she saw her wind knock the ball out of the way, and now stood dormant on the ground. To only increase her satisfaction, the ball had once again reverted to the size of a simple marble.

Even though Temari had essentially won the fight something bugged her, but she couldn't figure out what. It was as if she had missed something huge. _I just know I missed something. Let's recap, I'm dodging the balls and._ Temari didn't even need to finish the thought to know what she missed. As quickly as she could, she dove to the right, but she was too slow. The second ball that she had missed, hit her square in the spine. The shocks went down her spinal column and spread to the rest of her body. Temari was out cold.

Luckily for the girl however, the ball had shrunk in size dramatically and was now only the size of a baseball. This meant that the chances of severe and permanent damage to the other gennin was not likely.

Sora landed with a thud on her knees and was announced the winner. Shortly after however, she promptly passed out from loss of blood, and drained chakra. Regardless of her current state though, she advanced.

Stretchers came out for both participants. After a short delay, they were both cleared from the arena to be taken care of in the hospital.

Up in the stands, Gaara was beginning to freak out. The blood that Sora lost in the fight and now wore on her face, excited the chaos within him. He wanted some blood, and he wanted that blood to come as soon as possible.

The board spun around again very quickly until it landed on two names. The responses of the two people in question couldn't be any more different. One of the candidates face shone with an evil malice. He knew that the chaos inside of him would be quenched very shortly. The other was pale white. He had seen what his potential opponent could do and he was scared for his life. Looking across the arena, he saw the pure evil and intent in the face of the other gennin and he wanted no part of it.

Gaara vs Kiba Inuzuka.

"I quit." Kiba said from his place in the balcony, and everyone outside of team eight was shocked.

"Very well. Kiba Inuzuka forfeits and Gaara advances into the next round." Genma responded.

"Kiba, why are you quitting?" Naruto yelled out angrily.

"Naruto, you don't get it. This guy's nothing anyone here can handle. He's merciless and a ruthless killer. This guy, no, this thing is nothing more then a monster."

This statement hit team one hard. Naruto had been referred to as a thing and a monster his entire life. He knew that the gennin on the other side had issues. After all, very few sane people would threaten their teammates. However, calling someone a thing and a monster was crossing the line for him.

"No Kiba. You can't call him that. He may have problems, but he's not a monster."

"Damn it Naruto, he is. He mercilessly slaughtered three gennin in the forest after they begged for their lives. He slaughtered them and he did it with a smile on his face. In fact, he said that he wanted more people to kill. If that's not a monster I don't know what one is. He may as well be Kyuubi."

This hit all the jonin from Konoha in the room hard. They all knew that Naruto contained Kyuubi, but for the most part, they knew the difference. They also knew that Naruto knew about Kyuubi, and some of them thought that Naruto may snap.

Naruto just had a blank look on his face. The mere mention of the beat trapped inside of him still made him feel a bit odd. In fact, he realized at that point that maybe somewhere in the world, somebody had things just as badly as he did.

"He's right you know." Gaara said coming up to Naruto. "I am a monster. I killed the woman who brought me life. I kill to quench the chaos building inside of me. Now, after seeing what you did to my brother, killing you will give the beast inside me the blood that she wants. I will kill you Naruto Uzumaki. You too." Gaara pointed at Kiba. He then turned around and left the arena for an unknown reason.

Naruto was frozen. His whole life he was known as a monster because of the beast living inside of him. Now, he had just met a boy who felt that he was a true monster. A boy whose loneliness had manifested itself into an incredible power that was not to be messed with. For the first time in what seemed like a long time, Naruto was afraid.

The next fight started and ended just as quickly. Shikamaru used his superior knowledge of tactical skills and the use of his shadows to easily trap the other teammate of Kabuto. After the fight, Sora came back into the arena with nothing more then a few stitches on her head. There was no way for her that she would miss another second of fighting. After all, she needed to gather every piece of information that she could.

In a private room, Kakashi had just used his best and only original technique to attempt to scare off Orochimaru, the man who put the cursed seal on Sasuke. It was obvious to Sasuke that he would need more power to finally kill his brother and avenge his family, but after seeing all the events leading into the exam, he wondered if the way he was going at this was right.

Looking at Orochimaru, he could tell that the man had a lot of power. He could feel that when he used that power in the forest. The pure power that flowed through him when he woke up felt amazing to the young avenger. It was as if that power could finally lead him to the ambition that he's been striving for his entire life.

When he was in the forest though, because his teammates were so terrified by his show of power, he neglected using it. That in itself would have cost them the second exam had Kabuto not have been there to help them out.

For him, he felt much weaker when the power of the seal on his neck wasn't in use. He felt like a well full of water, but was never drawn from. His reasoning was that if this power was so bad, then why is it that not using it would hurt him more then using it.

Now, his neck had been sealed by Kakashi's power and he could feel the power of the curse no longer. Losing that seal for him made him feel very weak. Perhaps, he reasoned it was just that the sealing of the curse was too much for his body to handle. That would make him feel weak. However, there was a nagging feeling that he had, that if the seal was sealed, then he would lose on the chance of a lifetime. He potentially had the vengeance of his family within his grasp. Like a bee so close to pollen before the flower gets plucked right in his face.

Suddenly now he could see the weakness in many of the gennin in his class. His own teammate had gotten crushed easily by the timid Hinata. Ino lost in an embarrassing fashion which would leave her in a volatile state for a long time. Even Naruto looked weak when he could barely even beat that Sand ninja that he knew he could beat. Lucien, a person who was one of the few he considered to be in his league, looked embarrassingly weak when he tried to protect Kanna. He only looked strong when vengeance filled his mind and his thoughts. This gave him the feeling for sure that the only way to succeed in his goals was to thirst after revenge with every fiber of his being.

Kakashi had said that the seal was only as strong as his resolve and ability to keep the seal strong. He knew that if he didn't feel strong, if he felt that sealing the curse in his neck would actually hinder his strength, then he himself would break the seal and welcome the power that Orochimaru brought to him.

The next fight featured Shino and Choji. Choji expanded and tried to roll his way to victory, but Shino was much more intelligent. He was able to use his bugs and drain Choji's high chakra levels and take the guy down to size.

Ayame was starting to feel restless. She had seen Naruto and Lucien both perform in a strong manner, while the girls that criticized her in the academy dropped like bowls of Ramen in front of Naruto. She wanted to get in on this so badly that she couldn't stand still.

Many experts say that when you fall in love with someone, you begin to pick up a few of their characteristics. If that was true, then she knew exactly who to blame for her restlessness. Finally that restlessness came to an end with the next match in the exam.

Ayame Iciraku vs Tenten

...

Very short chapter. This chapter really wasn't really supposed to advance the story too much. Mainly it was supposed to get a lot of fights out of the way. Also, it pointed out the thinking that Sasuke is going through. Keep in mind, Sasuke stayed sane longer in part due to Naruto. He could relate to Naruto, but as strong as Sora is, she's no Naruto. That's why Sasuke seems to be starting to get dark.

Action picks up next chapter and I think that I'll have one more fight after that. I may just cram the last two fights into the next chapter. Save the final fight to be one that should have been in the manga, but will not be. After that, this portion of the chunin exams will finally come to an end and I can get back to crafting the story and the events during the month break.

I made the Gaara confrontation earlier then expected because the thing with Lee would have never happened and this seems to speed up the main rivalry that I want to tackle.

Next rounds match ups are set and I doubt that you will be disappointed.

Thank you so much for reading.

Next Chapter: Barrage.

Please review.


	17. Barrage

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 17: Barrage

Sorry about the delay with midterms coming and all. But I'm here and reached number 100 reviews. Here we go on that.

Cooltony101neo: Thanks for the review. Yeah, it was complete filler but I got action in this chapter.

Joseph33795: Late night reading can be tough. Hope you enjoy this one.

JamesRKS: More fluff is coming. That though will happen during the break, so expect more fluff soon.

Dshadowdragon: I based it off a move I saw in a game once. The only thing different is how the technique is executed. Glad that you liked it though.

DeExil: Gaara can be very creepy. That sounds like a creepy flashback bro.

Zero Sakura Cross: Very good. I took the move name, but I revamped it and made it more ninjaesque. The fight will be interesting.

DrunkManSquakin: Hey man thanks. Sasuke won't die for a while if ever. I already have who he's going to have his struggles with.

Prague: It's a great game and a good play. I spoiled a little bit of the story but kept some up. Play VP2 first for PS2 if you do decide. It's good.

Kyuubi ruler of all bijuu: Thanks.

Alright, midterms are officially over and I'm ready to get back going on my way. Also, the elections are about over, which is awesome because I'm absolutely sick of hearing about it. But this is a story and not my rant so let's get back to the story.

.......................

Ayame looked ready and willing to get at her opponent. She had trained hard after the mission in Wave and she was willing to show just how much better she had gotten. She looked at her opponent though and figured that this would not be an easy fight.

All of team one was also waiting to see this fight. Kanna had really never seen the waitress fight and Haku had only seen her train. Naruto was grinning. He knew that Ayame had a certain chip on her shoulder and now she was able to fight with everyone watching.

Ayame and Tenten both walked down the stairs and turned to face each other. Before the match even started, Tenten counted the tiles on the ground and used them to base her distance from her opponent. Ayame used a similar tactic.

The proctor began the match and the first thing that Ayame did was reach for the bow strapped on her back. Tenten took first offensive and threw a kunai at Ayame. Ayame was able to lean right and followed up with an arrow aimed at the throwing arm of Tenten. Tenten in response took out a shuriken and had it hit Ayame's arrow.

"Does anyone else get the feeling that this fight is going to take forever?" .

The fight continued the exchange of blows with one girl shooting an indirect weapon and the other girl countering. Tenten was now firing weapons at a much faster clip then the beginning of the match, and Ayame was very quickly starting to run out of arrows.

"I don't get it." Kiba said. "In the academy, Ayame used her taijutsu better then any girl in the class by far. If that's the case, then why is she only using arrows to fight?"

"All three of us are proficient in taijutsu." Lucien said. "With Naruto's pure speed and bunshin and my quick sword attacks, we have close quarters combat taken care of. However, if we were trapped in tight quarters were we are unable to move as we like. That's where our resident indirect specialist takes stage."

"Also, when Ayame-chan runs out of arrows, she is able to use her submission style taijutsu to trap our opponent."

Tenten threw a scythe this time and Ayame had to fire the last arrow that she had in order to prevent contact from the scythe. The arena was was loaded down now with broken arrows and stray weapons that had been chipped and destroyed. Both girls were starting to breath a bit more heavily and Tenten threw another one of her weapons at Ayame.

Ayame had no more arrows left to attempt to derail the attack. Just when it seemed that all was hopeless for the ramen waitress, Ayame pulled another quiver of arrows out of a scroll and fired another bolt to stop the next weapon from Tenten.

Both girls continued to fire at each other several minutes. Ayame was now working through her third satchel of arrows and was almost done with it, while Tenten continued to fire a bunch of weapons from seemingly out of nowhere.

Tenten had been fighting for so long that she could feel the amount of weapons that she had available for throwing begin to dwindle. She had no idea just how many quivers Ayame had left, and she wanted to end the fight now. Unfortunately for her, she needed to use a technique that she wanted to save until the finals of the exams.

Ayame was also running dangerously low on arrows. It took a large part of her savings to even buy the bow and three quivers. She counted that she had about three more arrows that she could fire at the other gennin.

Tenten threw two more kunai, but they were both struck by arrows. Now Ayame was down to her final bolt. Tenten, on the other hand, had thrown her final two kunai outside of the weapons stored in her special scrolls. Seeing as she had no other choice, Tenten pulled out those scrolls and held a scroll in each hand. She then lept into the air and unfurled both scrolls. The scrolls began to twist and contort and it now looked as if Tenten was a giant drill.

Ayame had no idea what Tenten was doing, yet at the same time she knew that nothing good for her was going to come from what the other girl was doing. With only a single bolt left, Ayame would also be forced into a desperate move. It was a move that her teammate Lucien had given to her in a scroll, but she had never perfected it. She had some of the basics of the technique down, but it wasn't anywhere near ready to use in actual combat. At the same time, it was the only thing in her arsenal that could stop the barrage that was certainly coming.

Tenten began to spin around and pick weapon after weapon from her scrolls. Ayame concentrated all of her chakra on her bow and lone arrow.

Naruto widened his eyes, and both his mother and other teammate were shocked. They had seen the devastation of what Ayame was about to do and were seriously afraid. They knew that Tenten was preparing a barrage of weapons that would make all previous exchanges seem tiny. Should Ayame's technique fail, then she would be shark bait for Tenten.

"Finishing strike, Pulverizing Storm." Ayame said as she released the arrow. The effect was immediate. Ayame's lone arrow multiplied at an exponential rate. The barrage of arrows quickly met the barrage of weapons thrown by Tenten.

Nobody could really see anything on the arena. In fact, all that they could tell from the battle was the sound of metal colliding, scraping, and breaking. They heard wood crack and splinter.

After a few seconds, the debris began to clear away and the result of the battle was able to be seen. Tenten's left sleeve had been completely torn away, and the rest of her clothing was littered with small tears. Very little blood had been spilled on her, but her shoulder had been damaged badly. Ayame wasn't faring too much better. Her clothing had much fewer scratches and tears, but where contact had been made with Tenten's weapons, there was a lot of blood spilled.

The arena floor was littered with broken equipment. Arrows were snapped and laying all over the ground. Tenten's weapons were mostly chipped, but some of them were snapped in multiple places.

Both girls were bent over and exhausted from their attacks. They had both used their best attacks and were completely out of ammo. For Tenten this was ground that had never been traveled before in her life. She relied on an endless barrage of weapons that would eventually wear her opponents out. However, with a psychotic sensei like Gai, she had an edge in taijutsu. Or at least that's what she assumed.

Ayame got up and immediately took command of the battle. She launched an array of punches and kicks that left Tenten on the defensive. Tenten tried to turn the battle around with a punch to Ayame's face, but she was able to grab onto Tenten's arm and forcibly take her to the ground. She wrapped her legs around Tenten's arm and pulled back on Tenten's neck.

Tenten screamed in pain and tried to find a way out of this. If she had a weapon on her, she could use that to get Ayame off of her. She was taken down in an area with relatively no broken weapons around her either, but she knew that she would need to fight Ayame off in order to get to one of the many littered weapons.

"Come on Tenten. Escape that hold. Embrace your youth and get the arrow." Lee, Tenten's teammate dressed in green yelled.

"Come on Ayame-chan. Keep it up. I know that you can do it." Naruto yelled back in encouragement Ayame. Lee took that as a challenge as to who could cheer the loudest for their respective teammate. Unfortunately for everyone in the arena, Naruto and Lee had better lungs then an infant.

"Somehow it always comes down to a situation like this." Haku noted.

"Yes. A true test of will and character. Shinobi need to be able to reach down deep and find their inner strength when their outer strength is gone. Ayame has an advantage here." Kushina said.

"Hey Lucien-kun what is this technique? I've never seen anything like it." Kanna asked.

"It's Ayame's specialty. She takes a simple taijutsu attack and puts you in the most uncomfortable position. In training she uses it as a type of submission. However, she has ways to make every single one of them lethal should she need to."

"Oh. Have you ever been in this position?"

"More then I want to. I think she even puts Naruto in this position whenever she wants to go shopping with him."

"Not a bad idea. Maybe I should put it on you sometime Lucien-kun." As Kanna said that, she got a certain glint in her eye which every gennin around them could tell would not be good for the silver haired boy.

Tenten was trying as hard as she could to grab a weapon. At the start, she estimated that she was one meter away from grabbing the nearest arrow. Now, she measured that she had pulled herself to within a foot. She was so close to grabbing the arrow. However, Ayame then managed to pull Tenten back to about a yard away from the arrow.

At this moment, Tenten's entire arm and neck felt like they were about to fall right off. Pain spread through her body worse then anything that she had ever felt before in her whole life. About a minute after Ayame had pulled Tenten away from her only reprieve from the arrow, Tenten gave up and Ayame was announced as the winner of the fight.

Ayame released Tenten and was the first one up. In a show of class that would make any sensei proud, Ayame offered Tenten a hand up, which the other girl accepted. Both girls shook hands with each other, acknowledging that the other girl was a worthy opponent before climbing the stairs to the balcony above the arena. There, they were able to survey the damage that they gave the arena.

"Woah, did we do this?" Ayame said.

"I think so. I mean I used up every single weapon I had. That's never happened to me before ever. I think that I'd like a rematch sometime against you."

"Anytime."

"Yosh Tenten, that was a very youthful match." Gai said coming up to her, much to the embarrassment of Tenten. "But what is better is the fact that you have found yourself an eternal rival for which to further your increasing youthfulness."

"What do you mean sensei?" Tenten had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she shouldn't ask that. It's like picking at a cut.

"Tenten, having an eternal rival is the best thing to stir up youth. Why, without my eternal rival Kakashi, I wouldn't be the sexy beast of Konoha that I am today. How do you think that Lee would be without an eternal rival like Neji?"

"Normal?" Naruto suggested much to the delight of team one, and horror of Tenten.

"Oh what a hip young student you are. Your youthful intelligence and wit brings glory to gennin everywhere."

"Uh Gai-sensei, do you think that Lee or Neji need help preparing for their match?"

"Ah how right you are Tenten. I must help them both find their inner youth and have a truly glorious battle." Gai yelled as he went off back to join his team. Naruto, Lucien, Haku, Kanna, and Kushina all had their eyes twitching.

"What. In the world. Is wrong with that guy?" Lucien said.

"Ayame-chan, I'm scared."

"I am too Naruto-kun."

"I remember this one time when Zabuza-sama got drunk and picked a fight with two kumo jonin, three chunin, and a gennin over a drink spilled on his sword. After this, that seems normal."

"Tenten is he always like that?" Ayame asked.

"No. You should see him when he loses a contest with Kakashi. Uh actually you shouldn't see that. I must say though that despite his insanity, he is a top notch instructor."

During the discussion, the proctors took the time to clear all the fallen debris and broken arrows. It took them about ten mintues to clean it all up.

After the debris was clean, the final cycle began. It really wasn't much of a surprise though who was going to fight. After all, only two people had yet to fight, Lee and Neji. After the cycle stopped, Lee and Neji exchanged a glance.

Lee, normally a very excitable person, was silent. He knew how big this fight was. It was his shot to show Neji just how strong he had become. For Neji though it was different. He never understood why Lee had tried so hard to surpass him. He was always fated to be the stronger one. He was a prodigy and destined for much greater things then Lee.

The two continued their silent walk onto the floor until they stood apart from each other.

"Neji, today is the day when I shall finally defeat you." Lee said as he got into his Gokun stance. Fire shone brightly in his eyes and he was ready to give everything he had.

"Lee, fate has already decided this match. You have never beaten me and never will. This time I won't hold back. I would ask to to simply give up for that reason, but I know that you won't." Neji told Lee as he got into his Junken stance and activated his Byukugan. Everyone watching the two could feel the intensity of the two combatants.

"Woah, what's with these two anyway?" Nauto asked.

"Lee was always the worst at everything in the academy." Sora said coming up to the team. "Neji was the best. It's natural that they have a rivalry. Right Panda?" Tenten smacked her face with her hand.

"It goes deeper then that. Lee got a lot better at his taijutsu. Enough that he is now scary good at taijutsu. Still though, he can never beat Neji. Nobody can."

"Seriously Panda? You're still on that guy?"

"Who wouldn't be? I mean he's cool, hot, and strong. Who wouldn't like him?"

"Awesome. It's like talking to Pinky about "The Brain."

"Sora let's not get into this again shall we? You know nothing about true love."

"Oh well, at least unlike Pinky you can rely on yourself. She just relies on "The Brain" to save her."

"So is that what you name your teammates, Pinky and The Brain?" Tenten asked.

"Yup. Sakura's a genius, and Sasuke's insane."

Back on the floor, the proctor announced the final match and started the fight. Lee started off quickly with his brand of fast-paced taijutsu, but Neji was able to keep up with his moves easily. Every punch and and kick that Lee threw, Neji was easily able to counter.

"Bushy brows is fast. The problem is that he's telegraphing all his moves. It's like Neji knows where to guard." Naruto noted.

"Yeah. I see that too. He relies on his pure speed and raw power. However, if you can get around those then Lee seems to have very little in the terms of backup." Haku noted.

"Not bad you guys. And you're rookies too. How do you know so much about Lee?"

"Well, they saw him fight once. It was before the exams even started. He challenged The Brain to a fight and easily won. He thought that he could win with his superior eyes. Unfortunately for him, pure speed isn't something easy. You need to adjust to it. You five seem to be keeping up with Lee's speed easily though. How do you do it?"

"Well, Haku and Kanna both had sensei's in mist that train their shinobi to excel in raw speed. As for my three gennin, I make sure that they are well trained. If you're not used to it, speed can absolutely demolish you. I should know, my husband excelled in killing people with nothing more then just speed." Kushina said.

After about a minute of combat, Lee and Neji broke apart. Lee had, to this point, not even made a single attack land against his opponent and Neji was starting to get bored.

"As expected of you Neji. I think that I should take this up to the next level if it is alright with Gai-sensei."

"Lee, I allow it." Gai yelled down to the floor of the arena. Lee then jumped up to the top of the statue and removed the weights that he had on his legs. He then tossed them off onto the ground. Everyone was completely floored when the impact of the weights cracked the ground.

"That's a lot of weight." Naruto said. "I figured that he was holding back, but that is insane."

"Yes now things get more interesting." Haku said. "Lee's new boost of speed will give him an edge. That much is certain. However, Neji may be overcome this new burst of speed with time."

"You mean the way that I was able to eventually keep up with you after our fight?" Naruto asked. "I thought that was because you slowed down and ran out of chakra."

"I did slow down, but not as much as you would think. I was at only about 90% of my true speed, but my chakra couldn't keep the mirrors up. The key factor for your clones was merely adjustment for your eyes and my speed. I'm sure that this fight will play out the same way."

Lee took off like a bolt at Neji and launched a flurry of punches and kicks at his opponent. So far, Neji was able to barely get by the attacks. Lee couldn't manage solid contact at his enemy, but at least this time he had Neji on the defensive. Neji saw an opening and turned the pressure back on Lee with a few palm thrusts, but none of them even so much as grazed the green beast. Lee took the final palm thrust and parried it. He the stepped towards Neji and hit him with an elbow in the chest, and Neji was knocked back a few steps and completely stunned.

That moment caused every jaw in room to drop. Nobody had seen anything like this coming. Even though many thought that the fight would be a close, no one thought that Neji would get so much as touched. Nobody though was more shocked then Tenten.

Tenten had seen the two guys fight every day from the day when they had all been on the same gennin team. Lee would challenge Neji, and then Neji would win in a flawless victory. It was as if her entire world had crashed down around her.

Hinata had a similar thought. She had always seen her cousin fight well. He always beat every opponent that the Hyuuga would throw at him. He was much stronger then what she was and almost as strong as what she thought that Naruto was. Seeing this attack land gave her hope that she could climb the unclimbable obsticle of her main goal, Ayame.

Neji just held onto his gut is disbelief. He was the one fated to win this fight. He was always fated to be Lee's superior. Yet, here he was reeling backwards. It made him wonder who fate really sided with in this fight.

For Lee, this was a bigger boost and joy then anything he'd ever felt. Sure he always bragged about how this would be the day that he would defeat Neji, but at the same time he rarely believed it. He never even came close to getting this far, and he knew now for the first time in his life that he could actually beat the genious.

Lee responded after a brief pause and launched a barrage of punches and kicks all aimed at Neji. Unlike the last flurry, Neji was much more hesitant and a whole lot slower to counter with Lee's attacks. It was as if Neji was quickly losing his focus and Lee was gaining a lot more confidence.

In the latest exchange, Neji was unable to guard fully against all of Lee's attacks. Lee landed quite a few glancing blows against his opponent and every blow kept getting closer and closer to making full on contact. In a desperate move rarely used by the genius, Neji spun around releasing chakra and repelling the other boy.

Lee had seen Neji use that technique before many times against Tenten. It was a technique held in the highest regard by the Hyuuga elders and was rarely taught to the members of the branch. Even more impressive was the fact that a gennin could use it. But in all the times that they had known each other, Lee had never had Neji use the rotation against him.

"What was that?" Kanna asked.

"It's the perfect defense that nothing can get through ever. Neji releases chakra from every point of his body at once and creates a dome around him. The chakra repels any and all outside force from entering and will stop even the mightiest of attacks." Tenten responded. "It's why Neji has and never will lose a fight in his life."

"I bet it's got a few flaws. I could probably get through if given time to prepare for it." Sora responded.

Lee knew that with the tools that he had in his arsenal, that he couldn't get through the rotation and he knew of no way that he could get around it either. The only option that he had left was to use his only forbidden jutsu. He knew that he would have hell to pay from his sensei, but it would be worth it to finally achieve his major goal in life.

Channeling everything that he had, he put all of his chakra into this single move. He opened up an inner gate and all the chakra that was stored pulsed through Lee and even made his face turn red. He then ran forward full speed and into the Hyuuga genius. He threw a punch at Neji who responded with his rotation, and both contestants were thrown back after the explosion.

Silence shown through the arena as they could only see two craters. Tenten's heart was racing faster then it had ever done in her entire life and everyone was wondering not only which hole held which contestant, but who would be the first one to emerge. The official started his count and the first contestant started to climb out of the hole.

The first attribute that they noticed was the pale, pupiless eyes which indicated that the Hyuuga was up. Although looking at his face, one wouldn't recognize him. Streaks of red outlined his entire face and his clothing was scratched and torn. Moments after Neji arose, Lee also got up looking much better on the outside. His main issue though was that his muscles were all beaten up and he was barely able to stand.

"Lee, as I said fate has already ruled in my favor for this fight. Though you may think yourself as my equal, you are in range of my divination." Neji then raced forward at a blinding speed and began to strike at all of Lee's chakra points. "Two palms. Four palms. Eight Palms. Sixteen palms. Thirty-two palms. Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms."

Lee was launched back hard from the force of the attack and fell flat on his back. Genma gave Lee the ten count, but to be honest, he could have given Lee a count to a million before he would move from the force of that blow. A gurney came out and took Lee away to the medical ward while all the winners of the previous matches came down to draw lots to announce the matches for the chunin exam finals which would be held in one months time.

Gaara had returned by now and joined the group. Blood adorned his clothes and he had a sadistically pleased look on his face. A bloodied Neji drew the first lot and picked up the number five. Shikamaru was next and picked up the number six. Hinata drew two, Ayame drew one, Lucien drew seven and Naruto drew ten. Shino picked up the number three, Gaara followed by picking up the number ten, and and Sora finished with the number four. Sasuke then took the remaining lot which was the number eight.

The finals would then be run in a single elimination tournament with two different divisions with five people in each division. The first match would see Ayame against Hinata. Next would see Shino against Sora, with the winner facing Neji. The next set of matches that would be seen would see Shikamaru fight Lucien and the winner of that would see Sasuke. Finally, the first round would end with a fight between Naruto and Gaara.

The next month would surely be interesting.

.............................

Yes. It took a long Sunday stretch going well into Monday, but I finished up the prelims. Some of you saw some of the matches coming. I tried to really play into the hand of rivalries and stories. Next chapter will be some well deserved fluff for Naruto and Ayame along with progression of the story. Of course I will also introduce a certain other character in a ... humorous way. Who? You'll just have to find out.

I got a review about this in Tanebi about finals format so I'll address that here. The format I used is the one the show featured and one that would allow me to further every rivalry that I want going for me.

Expect another Tanebi chapter to be released by the end of the week.

Thank you all for reading.

Next chapter: A Well Deserved Break

Please Review.


	18. Break

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 18: The Break

Hello again and welcome back. As usual, let me start on the reviews.

HentiKitsune: Wow, totally missed that. Thanks for pointing it out.

DeExil: Yes but which of the two would be Pinky? I wanted to create interesting match ups and I'm glad that you liked them.

The Tower Romance: That jutsu would have to be forbidden. Can't summon Chuck Norris. Too good.

DrunkManSquakin: Nobody important to the story. Yeah it would torture me too.

Kraken77: Thanks a lot.

Okiro Zangetsu: Oh of course. They never attract trouble. (Looks around) Never.

Blue-Zangetsu: I can't write lemons. I'm just not talented at that part so I won't write one. If somebody wants to for me and then let me insert it, I can arrange that if it's really good. I'm not keen on preteens having sex, so it wouldn't be for a long while if someone does decide to try.

Rome28: Thanks a lot.

Bluestone: That's the first review I got on that particular subject. I do plan on going into the details of that after the chunin exams.

Key of Destiny Sora: It's a good game. The PS2 Silmeria is the one that should be played first. The twist is so much better. Anyway, thanks for the compliment.

Zero Sakura Cross: It is interesting. I think you'll like what I'm doing with all my match ups though. Yes he is a very creepy Gai. Ha ha get it. It's a pun. Yes it was bound to happen. I'll try to be more regular from now on.

Sorry I'm late on this chapter. I've been getting absolutely hammered with my work load. I'll still try to keep things going though on a regular basis. Also, I got in an accident and my car got totaled. I'm fine, but I needed a new car.

Anyway, let's get on with the show.

.........................

"Wait. You want to do what over the month?" Ayame asked.

"I'm leaving the village to train with Kanna and Haku. I figure that just getting away from everything will not only help me relax a bit more, but also help me get more prepared for my matches. Besides, in case you two haven't noticed, strange and bizarre things seem to happen to us." Lucien responded.

Team one was talking just outside of the ramen bar. Only a day had passed in the month period and Naruto and Ayame wanted the team to train together for the finals.

"Well it does make sense. The wilderness is a great place to improve, but who is going to train you?" Naruto wondered.

"Us. Duh." Kanna said. "Lucien-kun can learn a bit from the both of us. Haku over there can teach him more about using a sword. Zabuza did teach him a bit of it, but Haku just doesn't use them. As for me, he can learn from my agility and athleticism. We're gonna make Lucien-kun strong enough to beat anybody."

"Hey Naruto," Lucien started completely serious. "That guy Gaara guy is really dangerous. He's tough. It won't be easy to beat him. If I were you, I'd isolate myself as well. You're going to need to be at your best game if you want to beat this guy."

"I appreciate it. However, I draw strength from my friends and even more from Ayame-chan. Fact is, without training alongside her I would stand even less of a chance."

Lucien just smiled. "I figured you'd say something like that. Well, in that case, I'll see you in about a month. Train hard." The silver haired boy stuck out his hand and shook hands with both Ayame and Naruto before taking off into the wilderness.

"Well Ayame-chan, how do you want to go about training?"

Ayame put her hand under her chin in thought. "I don't know. I mean your mom really can't be found now. I guess that we could spar in our usual grounds."

"Oh I got a good one." Naruto exclaimed. "I remember Kaa-san telling me once that she used to spar with someone over arctic water. She said it improved already good chakra control and gave motivation to not fall in."

"Oh that does sound good. Except there are no real cold places to train. Maybe we could use hot springs. If that's the case, then we need to change."

"Why? I think what we have on now is good training clothes."

"Um, Naruto-kun. I'm in my ramen uniform now."

"So? We've trained when you're wearing that before."

"But it's white."

"And?"

"And white when it gets wet is ... see through."

"But that would mean ... OH yeah, uh let's get you changed then." Naruto said as his face had turned a very bright shade of red. Ayame herself was actually glad that her boyfriend had actually understood the point.

Both ninja went to their respective homes to get changed and they agreed that they would meet at the hot springs in a half hour.

"Wait a second." Lucien said. "You want me to do what now Kanna?"

"Spar Haku without leaving that tree branch right there." Kanna said as she pointed to a tree holding thick branches, but at the same time, those branches gave little room to walk on. "Your main problem is perfect balance. If you can master fighting someone on a small surface, then that will make your balance much improved. That in turn will cause your taijutsu to be even more effective. Here let me show you."

Kanna then ran after a tree at full speed. She ran up the tree three steps and then planted her hands on the bark and pulled herself parrell to the branches. After that, she flung her legs and through the tree and rolled off it onto her back. The tree splintered where Kanna made contact before falling down. Lucien and Haku were speechless and Kanna was quite proud of herself.

"You see, my body is so balanced that it allows me to do so many things that other people can't even think about doing. That's what I want you to have Lucien-kun. That way, you can actually be as great and awesome as I think you are."

Meanwhile, Naruto and Ayame had already started their training, and by start the training, I mean that Naruto saw Ayame in a bathing suit and passed out. Now however, they had just finished with their first spar and Naruto won. They were now sitting sown with their feet in the water and resting up for their next fight.

"Hey Ayame-chan I'm wondering about something."

"What is it about Naruto-kun?"

"It's just, Kiba. We've known Kiba for a long time, and he's never given up before. He's always wanted to prove himself as the best. For him to just back down the way he did against Gaara makes me wonder just what kind of chance that I have against him."

"I know what you mean. We've never seen him fight, but he just gives off such a sense of power that it frightens you to even get close to him. You want to know something though? I've seen him before all this started."

"What? You have?"

"Uh huh. It was a number of years ago and I was only eight. A small boy came in with messed up hair, slouched frame, and the coldest and loneliest set of eyes I saw in my life. He thought that he was a monster because he truly felt that he killed his mother and father. Every time I saw him, I felt so thankful."

"Why would you feel thankful seeing someone in that shape though?"

"It always told me how good I had it. It showed me that even though I had no pedigree or face on a mountain of old guys, I always had a father to love me and give everything that he wanted for me. And then I told myself that I would do anything to give that boy the same thing."

"You're talking about me aren't you?"

"Yeah. Most people can't see it, but I'll never forget it in my life. Your eyes were so pale and dead. You looked so defeated and dejected. You also called yourself a monster that day too."

"I did? I don't remember that."

"Well you did. You asked my father why a man like him would even serve a monster such as yourself without trying to poison him."

"If what you're saying is true though, then I may have turned out to be just like Gaara."

"It's possible. But you changed after we started being friends. And that led us here. I think that maybe all Gaara needs is a girl to show him what love is."

"Yeah but who can love the unlovable?"

"I did. And I think I know of someone else who can too." Ayame and Naruto then started to move their heads together, but something prevented the kiss. Some perverse giggling completely ruined the possible moment between the two. Both now slightly angry teens turned around to see a man with long white hair peeking into the women's side of the hot springs and scribbling down some notes. The action turned Naruto and Ayame from slightly angry to extremely pissed off.

"Ohhh yeah." The white haired man said. "That one is a real looker. That long beautiful red hair and that gorgeous ass. If only I could see the front of her. Oh yes this is some good research."

"Uh Naruto-kun, do you think that he's peeking on your mom?" Ayame asked.

"I think so." Naruto said. At first he looked disgusted by the whole thing, but then the gears in his head started working. An evil plan was certainly in the works and Ayame knew that look.

"Naruto-kun, what are you going to do?"

"Just stay here and trust me on this one." Naruto used his kekki genkai to turn into his sexy form, but older and with all the cloths on and walked into the hot springs.

"Ohh wow what a knockout joining the red haired beauty. Oh with those two blond pigtails and an almost as good of a behind. Oh what's this, she's wrapping her arms around the redhead and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. This is the best research ever." The man was pulled away from his reverie however when the redhead turned around abruptly and showing a face that was very angry. It was a face that the white haired man had not seen in years and thought that he would never see again.

Within seconds, Kushina transformed back into Mirage and ran right after the white haired pervert. He was so shocked though by seeing her, that he didn't even bother to try and run away. It was as if he was shocked still. In fact, he didn't even bother to dodge the punch and barrage of assaults that had just come.

Meanwhile, Naruto walked out of the springs with a huge smile on his face and made his way over to Ayame, back now in his male form.

"Well, what'd you think of that Ayame-chan?"

"I'd say that was a nice use of your bloodline. Man, he's really not even trying to get away is he? Do you think that he may have known your mom?" Ayame asked.

"I don't know. Probably. I mean most guys run for their life when they get caught peeping like that, but he's just taking it. Look at his face too. It looks like he'd just seen a ghost."

"Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked a bit too sweetly for Naruto's taste. "How do you know that a guy always runs away when he's caught peeking?"

"I once saw Kiba try and sneak a peek on Ino and Sakura. He was convinced that they were seeing each other and spying on them to try and prove it. I told Ino about it and she told Sakura ..."

"And Kiba was MIA for the next week?" Ayame answered laughing. "Sometimes I wonder what goes through his head." Naruto and Ayame continued to joke while Kushina continued to pound on the white haired man who hasn't once tried to get away or wipe that stunned look off his face. Eventually, Kushina calmed down and let the guy go.

"Alright, now that I have that out of my system, tell me Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" Kushina asked.

"Kushina, you're alive. I heard from sensei that you had been killed in the assault. Now though, I see that you're alive." Jiraiya looked to be on the verge of tears, and not from the beating that Kushina had given him.

"It's true I did, but not from Kyuubi. In the mess afterwards that lovely little psychopath Yuri wanted to kill any spawn from my loins for taking away her precious. I died, but did you know that Maya was a Valkyrie?"

"I see. That makes sense. I understand why Maya would want to hide that from me. But it's hard to believe that Yuri would kill your son for Minato." Jiraiya looked to the side to see Naruto and Ayame listening in on the conversation. "Maybe we should take this in private."

"You've seen enough of me in private Jiraiya." Kushina yelled, threatening to punch Jiraiya again which he didn't want. "But to answer your comment, Yuri was a nut job. Before she tried to kill my son, she told me about how she loved Minato and that I didn't deserve him. Trust me, your student was a psycho."

"I can understand that. Yuri was always driven by emotion. I think that there was something else though. Maybe a genjutsu of some kind." Jiraiya said. "I knew all of my students very well and we always kept in touch. I also know that she was very fond of someone else other then Minato. There is a chance that it was a simple henge, but in your post birth state, couldn't tell the difference and you only saw what you were supposed to see."

"Do you know something that I don't?" Kushina asked him. She was starting to get rather impatient with this conversation.

"Perhaps. Let's just say that I have an inside source. There's a whole lot going on under the surface of Konoha that even you don't know about."

"It seems possible, but I highly doubt it. Anyway, down to business, you know that's my son over there right?" Kushina asked, pointing her head towards Naruto. Jiraiya nodded. "I want you to train him for a month. He's got a very difficult match against a person who's not stable at all."

"I don't know. I mean I'm going to be really busy and everything over the next month or so with research. What's in it for me?"

"You saw me naked and are still breathing. Need I give you more incentive?" Kushina asked with a very dangerous fire in her eyes.

"You know since you put it that way, I think my schedule has opened up for the next month. Anything special that you want me to teach him?"

"I think you know what I want you to teach him. Just make sure that he can summon those things with no problem alright?"

"Aw Kushina, still got that fear of frogs?"

"Ok, try dealing with Whirlpool frogs every day of your life, and try to not be creeped out by frogs." Kushina argued. "They're as big as dogs and poisonous."

"Whatever Kushina. Sure, I'll take the boy out for a month, and when he gets back he'll be as strong as his father."

After that, Jiraiya introduced himself to Naruto as the former sensei of the fourth hokage, which got Naruto very excited. Meanwhile, Kushina agreed to take Ayame on full-time during the time off.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sakura were all visiting Ino in the hospitol. The mental hospitol. Ino had suffered numerous mental fractures and was very unstable after her fight with Lucien and that didn't sit well with Ino's three best friends.

"It's just not right." Shikamaru said. "I mean, yeah I don't agree with what she did, but this is just ... he went way too far."

"I agree, but what are we going to do about it?" Choji added.

"Duh, Shikamaru, you get to fight him in the finals. Just take him out and do to him much worse then what he did to Ino." Sakura added.

"Not likely Sakura." Shikamaru added. "Lucien's far stronger then I am and he's really smart too. I could maybe plan a strategy to beat him, but he could likely counter it with something of his own."

"Well, what about training your absolute hardest over the next month?" Choji asked.

"No. Think about it Choji, he's going to be training even harder then I will. Any advantage that I would improve on, would just get countered by what he does. That is far too troublesome to be an ineffective strategy. If we want to get back at him for what he did, we need to do it with the three of us and soon. There's also a matter of those two mist ninja. There's a good chance that they will be by."

"But I heard that the three of them left town yesterday. If they're not around, how are we going to track them?" Sakura asked.

"I think Akamaru can track his scent. I'm sure that Kiba would agree to help us. Then all we need to do is surprise them after training and wipe Lucien out quickly and run before the other two catch up to us." Shikamaru theorized. "Don't worry Ino, we'll get him for you. We'll get revenge on you whatever it takes no matter how troublesome."

Jiraiya had taken Naruto out of the village and took him to a site overlooking a cliff and a waterfall.

"So Ero-sennin, why did you take me out of the village for a whole month without even letting me say goodbye to Ayame-chan?"

"Relax brat and don't call me that. Fact is, we only train out here, but after we're done, I'll take you away back to the village. Or rather, you'll take us back to the village with the new technique that I'll teach you today." Jiraiya told him.

"Oh, what are you going to teach me? Am I going to learn some super cool technique that allows me to telaport for miles and miles?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"No not exactly. Have you heard the story about how the fourth hokage sealed up that beast inside you?" Jiraiya asked.

"Oh you're going to teach me to summon a Valkyrie?"

"No, no. I'm not ever going to teach that technique." Naruto's face fell a little bit at this. "No your fa, I mean, your fourth hokage rode into battle Kyuubi on a giant summoned frog. That is what I plan to teach you in this training session."

"A frog? Shouldn't a summoned animal be more ferocious like a lion, or tiger, or something like that?"

"For your information gaki, a middle class frog summon would most likely be strong enough to defeat me and I was trained by the third, and trained the fourth."

"Wow, maybe you really are good Ero-sennin. Even if you are just a big pervert."

"I'm not a big pervert." Jiraiya defended. "I'm a mega one." Jiraiya continued bending his fingers in a way that easily creeped Naruto out.

"Anyway back to business brat. Before you can summon, you need to sign a contract with that animal with your own blood." The legendary ninja took the scroll off his back and opened it up in front of Naruto. Naruto saw all the names listed, including both his sensei's and the fourth hokage's name. Eagerly, Naruto added his own name to the list.

"Good now, you need to get your own blood on all your fingers and do the following hand seals." Jiraiya demonstrated the seals slowly so that Naruto could see what he was doing. When Jiraiya was done, he summoned a frog about as large as he was.

Naruto tried the same thing but only got a really small talking frog. Naruto was a bit disheartened by it, but Jiraiya was a bit surprised.

_Hmmmm, at his age and he can already summon a small frog. I see that Kushina is doing well. But still, he needs much more chakra if he wants to summon any frog that will do him service in a combat situation. I know that the seal should allow Naruto to fully use the power of the fox, but I don't even know if he can yet. Plus, I have no idea how Kushina would react to me trying to bring out the power of the fox. I need to talk with her tonight and we'll proceed from there. I can tell just by looking at him though, he has the best traits of both of his parents, and he will do Konoha proud in the future._

....................................

Wow, it took me a long time to update and for that I am sorry. I've just been getting pounded this whole week.

I'm going to take another chapter to take the course of the break. That will conclude Naruto's training with Jiraiya, Ayame's training with Kushina, and Lucien's training with Kanna and Haku, as well as the ambush that Shikamaru is plotting. I promise you, Next chapter will be pretty powerful stuff.

Shikamaru and Choji may seem OOC, but if you take into mind that Lucien is solely responsible for what happened to their best friend, you can understand their anger.

I'll try to update each Sunday from here on out. So fans of Tanebi, expect a release on Sunday. I'll try to haul and get it out. Without a Packers game on Sunday and the game moving to Monday night, it is made a lot more possible.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Kanna Unleashed

Please Review. 


	19. Kanna Unleashed

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 19: Kanna Unleashed

Welcome back ladies, gentlemen, and Bears fans. Before I start, let's answer some reviews.

Prague: It's a bit tough to describe what she did perfectly.

DeExil: Thanks. I kinda figured that you did.

BrownPaperBag51: Yeah that is what she did. You'll see how the trio fare against Lucien.

Joseph33795: I think you'll like how they will be dealt with.

Bluestone: I mentioned it so long ago that most people probably just overlooked it. Yes she will be paired with him. Somehow it seems right in a wrong sort of way.

The Yondaime: Couldn't agree more. Shame that she is really only used in harems though.

Well, let's get back to the story.

..............................

Naruto had spent the past few days trying to perfect the ninja summoning that Jiraiya had been teaching him how to do. So far, he hadn't gotten too much farther then when he started, but he has made some progress. When he began the exercise, all he could summon was a small frog that would really only be useful in a recon assignment. At the moment, he could summon a frog that had a limited use of water ninjutsu.

_He looks like he doesn't have enough chakra total to summon Gamabunta. Even though being able to summon Gamakiri is a feat that so few gennin can do, he can do so much better if he were to only tap into Kyuubi's power. Even though Kushina gave me the power to try to bring it out, it's not like she really wanted me to. _

"Hey Naruto, get over here for a second. I want to try something new with you." Jiraiya called out.

Naruto stopped his progress and went over to where his new sensei stood. He was really curious though as to what his sensei was going to talk to him about.

"Alright, I'm going to get right to the point. We both know about the Kyuubi inside of you. Have you ever in your life used its chakra?"

"I think so. Once after the gennin exams. It was weird. It felt like I lost all focus in my body and this foreign chakra took over. It was like nothing else in my life. What does this have to do with me?"

"Well, from what your mother told me about the seal and from what the fourth said, the fox's chakra is a secondary source, even though it's much greater then yours. If we can figure out the trigger, then you'll be able to summon up even more chakra then ever imagined. In theory of course."

"Well, that sounds good Ero-Sennin, but how do you suppose we go about bringing the fox's chakra up to the surface."

"My theory is that the fox's chakra will come to the surface if all of your normal reserves are depleted. Therefore, I want you to drain as much chakra as you can, then look specifically for the fox's chakra, draw it out, and use the summoning jutsu again."

"That sounds good, but doesn't using a move that consumes chakra to the degree that the summoning jutsu does have dangerous side effects?"

"Good question, but in your case no. Most people don't have a secondary chakra source. Do you have any jutsu that can drain your chakra quickly so that we can try this?"

"Oh yeah I do. Better yet, I can do double training and work on my taijutsu. Tajuu, Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu." All of a sudden, the clearing was full of Naruto clones. Jiraiya was floored at the sheer number of clones that appeared.

_Not bad at all. But still not enough to summon Gamabunta. With a bit better control though he may be able to summon a middle-class toad. That's not his problem though. In order for him to overcome Akatsuki he needs an ultimate trump card and only Kyuubi can provide that._

"Uh, you want me to do what exactly sensei?" Ayame asked.

"Exactly what I said. The Hyuuga have an affinity for close combat taijutsu which is your deficiency. You have your submission moves, but a Hyuuga can escape those much easier then others. Besides, a long vs short match-up isn't the best one a shinobi can have. You need to develop a middle game and for that you need to learn how to use your bow as a staff."

"Wait, so you want me to use my bow physically?"

"Yes. The Hyuuga need to get close in order for them to attack and when they do get get close the results are devastating. Keep your distance from her and you have a good chance to win."

"Alright. I have a feeling that her usually timid nature isn't really going to play a factor anyway, so I'll need to be ready for the worst."

"That's right. She does have a crush on Naruto doesn't she. That means that you'll need to be even more prepared. Trust me on this one, when a girl is fighting for something that she wants, her strength increases ten fold. You'll need to be at your best to defeat her."

Time had passes and it was now night in Konoha. In that time, Shikamaru had announced that now was the time for his group to move out in their preemptive strike. What they wanted to do was reach the site where they were, and take Lucien down at the most opportune time. They wanted to attack right after a training set.

For the first faze, they contacted Kiba and said that under orders from the hokage, they needed to deliver a message to Lucien, who was outside the village training. Kiba agreed and took them right to the spot where Lucien and Haku were doing a training set under the watchful eye of Kanna. They figured that they would need to wait until he was finished with the set and was exhausted to make their move.

_If those two are tired enough then a blind side ambush should be successful. If executed well, we could take Lucien out without the girl noticing. Though even if the girl notices, Sakura should be able to take her out. That shinobi training with Lucien should be tough, but through the training session, he should also be drained enough for Choji to take down. With the bodyguards out of the way, the target should be easy enough to take out._

"Hey, why not deliver the message Shikamaru? I mean he's right there?" Kiba asked. "Also, why is it that Sakura and Choji needed to come with you again?"

"You're so troublesome Kiba. The hokage gave us all day to deliver the message and interrupting it wouldn't be good. Sakura and Choji needed to come along because we are outside the village and are in danger of enemy attack."

"I see. And it's clear to me that you're not using me to find Lucien and make him pay for what he did to Ino." Kiba said to Shikamaru's shock.

"So you know what our plan is? My question is what do you plan on doing about it Kiba? Do you think that you'll stop us?"

"No, I don't. However, I won't help you. I don't think that your plan will work."

"How could it not work? Choji has so much raw power that he could take down a tired gennin any day of the week. Also, Sakura was among the top kunoichi in our class and helped her team actually pass the second exam. The match ups would be in our favor even if I don't step in. Even without the Sun, I could still use my limited taijutsu skills to aid against a tired shinobi. Everything sets up in our favor. If you don't want to take revenge for what he did, fine, but don't try to stop us either. He'll pay for what he did to Ino."

_Even though Shikamaru's plan is well thought out and definitely looks like he has the advantage, I just can't shake this feeling that this won't end up going well for him._

Lucien finished his set with Haku and was breathing heavy. Haku had soundly beaten him again and he was struggling to master the perfect balance that Kanna was trying to teach him. He could feel improvement though. He was staying on the branch for a longer period and could almost begin to counter some of Haku's moves. The problem was that, while he had to remain on a tree branch for the duration of the exercise, Haku did not. The ice user frequently threw senbon at the boy from a distance, and used his superior ability of movement to keep Lucien on edge.

Kanna sat on the sidelines the entire time, watching the training progress. _He's improving. He's stronger then that shadow user, no question about that. If he gets caught in that shadow however all that is not an issue. That's where the training will come into effect. With perfect balance and agility, defeating Lucien-kun will be nearly impossible._

"Hey Shikamaru, when do we attack? They seem to be done with their set right now so we should take him out before he starts to get his energy back." Sakura asked.

"No. Right now he's running on adrenaline and still has enough in the tank. Let's wait until the soreness from this last spar kick in and then we'll swoop in and wipe him out."

In the meantime, Lucien was working on his strategy by playing some chess with Kanna. He never lost a game against her and it started to frustrate her.

"Why is it that I can't beat you? I mean I'm getting better right?"

"Of course Kanna. It's getting so much tougher for me to trap you. I mean, I've been playing this game for a long time so it's only natural that I'm a bit better. I'll say though that even though you just started, you could put some good players that I know in their place."

"Really Lucien-kun? You think so?"

"Yeah. You're a talented kunoichi. You can do things that most shinobi don't even think to be possible."

"But if that's the case then why did they have to die?" Kanna said. She was on the verge of a complete break down.

"That wasn't your fault Kanna. You were up against shinobi that were able to exploit your weakness."

"That's my point. I wasn't strong enough to protect the few people I really cared about as a person. If maybe I were more like you, Haku, Naruto, or Ayame then maybe ..."

"But nothing. If not for you, then I wouldn't be improving as much as I am. Without the strength I got from you then I wouldn't have been able to take out those sound shinobi or advance to the finals. That strength came from the desire to protect you. You give me strength Kanna."

"Well then Lucien-kun. If the desire to protect me is what gives you so much strength, then maybe the desire to protect you will give me power. And that desire starts now. The four of you may as well come out now. I know your secret."

Startled, Sakura leaped out of the clearing first and engaged Kanna with a descending punch, but the punch was telegraphed and was easily dodged by the green haired kunoichi. Sakura pulled her fist from out of the ground and tried again to attack Kanna.

Choji saw an opening and went right after Lucien in his boulder state. Just when it seemed that he would connect with the silver haired boy, Kanna hit him with a shoulder block that redirected his course slightly, but into a thicket of trees and was stopped after 3 meters of deforestation. Kanna looked behind her to see Sakura running at her with a kunai, but Kanna was much too fast. She was able to kick the kunai from out of her hands of the pinkette, and then kicked her into another tree. Sakura got right back up and again tried to take Kanna down, but Kanna countered with a side headlock and ran right for the same tree that Sakura just got up from. When she got close to the tree, Kanna jumped and planted her feet into the trunk while still maintaining the headlock. She then rocketed off the tree and pile drove Sakura's head into the bed of the forest.

Shikamaru tried to take advantage of the out of position Kanna and tried to rush in for the kill on the target. Once again however, Kanna intercepted him and kicked him with a roundhouse kick behind the ear into another tree. Choji tried to get up from his tree, but was drop kicked in the face by Kanna knocking him out cold.

In the trees, Kiba was stunned. This single girl easily defeated all three of the attacking shinobi. She used a bizarre set of ninja skills that completely took out three members of the graduating class. He was afraid of what this girl could do, so he walked out of the clearing with both of his hands in the air. He wanted no piece of this girl.

"Tell me you, what do the four of you intend on doing with Lucien-kun?" Kanna asked dangerously. Kiba knew that he had to be believable or else he may end up like one of the three bodies sprawled out on the ground.

"Alright, Shikamaru wanted revenge on Lucien for what he did to Ino so he wanted to take him down. Injure him to the point that he won't recover, but still live. He had no idea how to track you down, so he came to me with a phony mission to deliver a note. I believed them at first, but after they got here and didn't deliver, I figured that they were lying. I never had any intention of attacking you honest."

"I see Kiba. Well in that case, you're free to leave." Lucien told the boy.

"What about them?"

"Take Sakura and Choji back to Konoha. I'll deal with this little problem over here myself." Kiba did as he was told and took Sakura and Choji back to Konoha while Haku tied Shikamaru up against the same tree where Kanna buried him.

"You know Kanna, that was really awesome. You want me to be that good?"

"Of course Lucien-kun. I mean, I've been doing this style for a long time so it's only natural that I'm a bit better. I'll say though that even though you just started, you could put some good users that I know in their place." Kanna giggled.

"You know, it felt really good protecting you. Even though you're much better then I am and easily could have taken care of them." Kanna continued.

"Nah, I couldn't have taken all three of them at once in my condition. AT most I could have taken out Sakura. Don't sell yourself short Kanna."

"Thanks Lucien-kun." Kanna said as she leaned her face closer to Lucien's. Lucien saw the move quickly however and pulled away before Kanna could plant one on him. "Uh fine, so that's the way you treat the woman who saved your life." Kanna pouted.

"Hey, what about all this stuff about how I could have taken them all out on my own?"

"I was stroking your ego. I saved your life so I think that I need to be rewarded somehow do you not agree Haku?"

"Uh, I think that I'd rather not get involved. I mean lover's spats have never been my area of expertise." Haku explained.

"Besides, we're dating now. And I think that a boyfriend should give his super cute, life saving, girlfriend a little, tiny kiss. Don't you think so?" Kanna pleaded.

After a while of thought, only one response came to the silver haired boy. "It's checkmate isn't it?"

Kanna just giggled. "I think it is." Kanna leaned forward again, and this time Lucien didn't pull away. Instead he just stood by and waited until someone interrupted the moment.

"It's troublesome enough that I had to get caught, but I think that this sight is even more troublesome." Shikamaru interrupted.

"Ah so the captive is up. So, what's this really about Shikamaru, revenge, or maybe you knew that you couldn't beat me in the exams."

"Don't flatter yourself. Ino is in severe psychological care right now completely due to the torture you put her through in the preliminaries. I came to get revenge for her."

"Revenge? And defiling my sister's grave, and the graves of her best friends didn't warrant any type of revenge?" Kanna yelled.

"Oh and what he did was any better? Tell me how mental torture to that degree is ever a good idea." Shikamaru demanded.

"Why not tell me how disabling one's spinal cord, making them a basic vegetable for the rest of their life is any better?" Lucien asked

"Maybe, maybe not. But still what you did is unforgivable and you need to take responsibility for what you did."

"And suppose your plan actually worked. What stops Kanna over here from doing something worse to you then what you did to me in the name of revenge? Do you honestly think that revenge stops just because you got yours?" Lucien paused allowing for Shikamaru to answer, but he couldn't.

"Figured. When Ino defiled Kanna's sister's grave, Kanna, myself, and the rest of team one was effected. Then when I took revenge on Ino, you, Choji, Sakura, and a bunch of other shinobi were effected. Now, by killing me, how many others do you think may be effected by your actions and get involved in your little web?" Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Well, I never really though about that. I just assumed ..."

"You assumed that after he was out of the way, everything would just fall into place. Everything would just go back to the way things were and the enemy would be out of the picture. Am I right?" Haku asked. Once again, Shikamaru had no answer.

"Maybe you're right and I did go too far. For that I am sorry. You see, I felt like you are now. Angry. I was angry and took my aggression and weakness for not being able to stop Kanna from being hurt out on Ino and hurt more people then I intended. What felt like righteousness, turned sour and evil. I guess that's what revenge's true nature is huh? Starts out nice, but later poisons the mind and becomes the sole focus of your body. Before you know it, you think that you're the most important person in the world."

"Where did you come up with all this? It sounds way too troublesome to go through."

"Naruto taught me. He's dealt with more shit then anyone else I've ever seen, Sasuke included. Yet at the same time, I've never seen him try and take revenge. He always just shook it off instead used that as a motive to protect those precious to him. Now, with Kanna at my side, I feel the same. I don't care as much about myself, just so long as she is alright. Doesn't protecting the ones you care about seem much less troublesome then searching under every rock and tree for revenge?"

Shikamaru just smiled. "Now you're speaking my language. Besides, getting that green haired girl on my case sounds really troublesome too. Boy can you pick the troublesome ones."

"You know what, I hope that when you grow up, a girl far more troublesome then Ino comes along and lays claim on you." Kanna teased. Years down the road, Shikamaru would curse those very words that Kanna spoke.

Meanwhile, Naruto had finished battling off all the clone that he summoned earlier and he himself was declared the greatest of all the Naruto's.

_Hmm, interesting taijutsu style. I have to say, that his taijutsu is already pretty solid, even though it needs a little work and a few less risks. Weaknesses seem to be very few, but still, Akatsuki isn't a group of slouches. He's going to need to be able to draw on Kyuubi's chakra in order for him to be successful. Let's hope that this training goes well._

"Good job Naruto. Very impressive. Now that all your chakra is gone, try to do the ninja summoning again and draw on Kyuubi's chakra to see if you can get a bigger toad out of it."

Naruto put his hands in the ram seal and tried his absolute hardest to get the red chakra out, but it wasn't very successful, and only summoned a small tadpole. He dismissed the summon and tried again, but he only got the same result.

_I see. I had originally thought that with no chakra left then Kyuubi's would seep through the seal. I was wrong. It seems then that there is another trigger for him. But the question is, just what is that trigger? Could it be the will to survive? Maybe. If Kyuubi thought that Naruto was in danger of dying, then he may lend Naruto his strength. But to do that, I would need to put Naruto's life at risk, and with Kushina as she is, that would put my life at risk. That's out of the question. With the two primary catalysts out of the way then what am I left with? _

"Hey Naruto, get over here for a second." Naruto did as he was told and ran over to where his sensei was. "Do you remember anything from the only other time when you used Kyuubi's chakra? Like what it felt like and how you did it?"

"The only time I think that I did was after the gennin exams when I thought that Ayame-chan was killed by Mizuki-teme. But the thing is, I don't remember how I did it. It just came to me out of the blue." Naruto responded.

_It makes sense. That kid seems to be driven by his emotions. Maybe, if I can get down under his skin and anger him enough, I can get down to the bottom of the Kyuubi's chakra. That could be a bit more costly though as he'll essentially be the same as a wild beast. Provoking him or even placing him under a genjutsu could have extremely negative effects. But if I can't use anger then what can I use?_

Jiraiya's musings were cut short however when he felt a small surge coming out from Naruto's body. Looking at the boy, he saw a cloud of red chakra begin to take form that was actually visible to the well trained eye of Jiraiya. He knew without a shadow of a doubt, that the chakra that Naruto was using was from Kyuubi itself. Naruto then tried the summoning jutsu, and out popped a large frog about the size of an average teenage human.

_That's a middle-class frog! He did it. Not only did he manage to summon Kyuubi's chakra, but it also seems that he has a small amount of control over it._ "Hey Naruto, how did you do that?"

"Well, I thought about what you said. When I borrowed Kyuubi's chakra last time, I was angry and wanted to pummel Mizuki, at least that's what I figured. But then I became like a wild animal and let him take over. I figured that my emotions then were the key. So I just pictured using the chakra not to summon some dumb frog," Naruto was cut off by the frog spitting a large amount of water at Naruto. "Uh no offense. Anyway, I thought about protecting Ayame-chan and after a while of concentrating, the chakra just came."

"I see. What you just got was only a very small sample of what Kyuubi is capible of. It's good that you started out with such a small amount. We'll work on getting more out of it a bit later in the training program. Anyway, as a reward for doing so well with this jutsu, I'll teach you another one that only a few shinobi can do. It's an A-class short range jutsu that took the fourth Hokage three years to invent. Now, I'm passing it down to you."

_Mastering summoning in three days and he's started on mastering Kyuubi's chakra. He's ready to learn the Rasengan. I just hope that he can handle it. He'll need to master it tough if he wants to stand any chance at defeating Akatsuki._

....................................................

Wow, cranked out a few chapters in a couple of days. Anyway, on to the footnotes.

Both of the moves that Kanna used were signature wrestling moves made famous by a one Trish Stratus. In order, Stratusfaction on Sakura and the Chick Kick on Shikamaru. I used them because they looked pretty cool, but also because they fit in with Kanna's style. If they seemed unclear, please look them up.

Now that that's out of the way, let me take care of a few more details.

Revenge is going to be one of the points I'll talk about throughout the course of this story. I touched a lot here about how it hurts more then just the direct people involved.

The matter with Lucien and the trio as I now call them is not resolved and they're not best buddies or anything like that. However, they won't be thinking about revenge as much.

Also, the fight between Lucien and Shikamaru won't be the lopsided affair that we saw in this chapter.

Keep in mind, they attacked at night and Shikamaru was at a disadvantage.

More Naruto and Ayame fluff coming up in the next chapter.

I think that's all for my notes, but I may have left something out.

Thank you for reading Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Next Chapter: Rasengan

Please Review.


	20. Rasengan

Fox, Waitress. And Valkyrie

Chapter 20: Rasengan

Sorry guys for such a late upload. My computer crashed and I went on vacation to the greatest place ever, Chicago. Anyway, let's get going with the reviews.

DeExil: I'm glad that you liked what I wrote. Actually, I based most of the revenge stuff from the anime, Gundam SEED. I'm not sure which ep it was, but it was a discussion between Cagali and Athrun. I put my own words there, but the basis was from that talk.

Bluestone: Solid quote. I doubt though that Sasuke would have learned anything, mostly because revenge is all he knows and he's too far gone to have a simple lecture sway him. Shika on the other hand, just wanted an out and revenge had only started to enter his mind.

Prague: Actions are hard to write. Do too much, it gets too complicated. Do too little, you're not descriptive. I'm trying to find a balance and I think that I'm getting close.

Drunkmansquakin: Next chapter for absolute sure. I only planned for a one chapter break, but things just happened to drag out. Next chapter guaranteed.

Zero Sakura Cross: Hey maybe then she'll have a head to match the forehead. (I just have to go for the forehead joke don't I?) Anyway, thanks for the review.

Novafiction: The great part about pairing with minor characters, is that you are pretty much given a clean slate to work with. Thanks for the review.

Alright, as I said, I've been on vacation, but I will still do my part to update as soon as possible.

Chunin exam finals start next chapter.

Nothing else major, so let's get on with the show.

….......................................

"So Naruto, what do you think?" Jiraiya asked.

"Of course it would be awesome to learn a new jutsu. But, shouldn't I still work on my summoning skills and using Kyuubi's chakra? I mean, you can still summon bigger frogs then me, and I heard that Yondaime summoned a frog the same size as Kyuubi."

"In order to summon those frogs, you would probably need to be able to use more chakra then you presently can and still be in complete control of yourself. We'll still work on that, don't you worry, but at the same time, you need to develop more skills. If you only work on polishing the skills that you are close to mastering, then you will severely limit the amount of abilities that you will be able to do."

"Well that makes sense I guess. But still, I don't feel right about just giving up on perfecting a skill just like that. I want to be able to completely master the skill before moving on to the next one."

"I'm not suggesting that you completely give up on summoning or trying to use Kyuubi's chakra. Think of it like taijutsu. You focus all your time on taijutsu when it sucks. After it improves a great deal, if you continue to only work on it, then all your other skills will not get better. Old saying goes, that which does not grow begins to decay."

"You make a good point Ero-sennin. But doesn't getting too many skills just end up hurting me in the long run. My mom taught me that when a ninja gets too many jutsu, they can never learn how to use them to their full potential. How does that not apply to this new jutsu?" Naruto wondered

"You bring up a good point. Jutsu are classified into five main groups, offensive, defensive, support, summoning, and finishing. The best shinobi only have a few of each. You already have an offensive, support, and summon, and now we are going to give you a finisher."

"Oh you mean like that Valesti thing that Lucien does? Are you going to teach me something like that?" Naruto wondered.

"This finisher that I have in mind is an A-class jutsu created by the Yondaime himself. Before anything, I'll show you the final product that you'll be working on."

Jiraiya stuck out his palm and created a ball of chakra inside of it. The ball was about the same size as a softball and was a beautiful swirl of blue chakra. He then ran forward and slammed his hand into a tree. The ball sliced right through the tree with the greatest of ease and Naruto was impressed with the power of the jutsu.

"Impressive isn't it? Now before I teach this jutsu to you, I want you to tell me why a technique like this will most benefit you."

Naruto thought about it for a while before answering. "For one, speed is my biggest advantage. With a jutsu like that I can attack very quickly and give little time for a counter. Two, chakra is invisible unless used in huge quantities. The fact that I could see it means that the jutsu takes a lot to use and with Kyuubi, I have more then enough chakra. Finally, it looks quick to charge, so I can get off multiple shots off before the enemy has a chance."

Jiraiya was stunned. He didn't think that the gennin would actually get it. _This kid is always surprising me. If he continues to grow then he may just end up surpassing his father after all. _

"Very good. I'm wondering though, was it your mother that taught you to think like that?"

"Not really. To be honest, my mother is not really a hands on teacher. She'll supervise what the team does and gives us a few suggestions, but other then that, she just leaves us alone and lets the team get stronger on our own. She says that if she always tells what what to do all the time, we won't see real improvement. It's way different then Iruka-sensei. When I asked him a question, he would always tell me the answer. Kaa-san would just tell me where to find it."

"You know what Naruto, I am the same way. That's good then. Here as promised is the first step in the jutsu." Jiraiya took a water balloon out of his pack and held it in his hand. The ball soon had bumps appear all over it and then popped. Jiraiya then unsealed a ton of balloons and dropped them in front of Naruto. "Here you go kid. Have fun."

Back in Konoha Sakura and Choji met with Shikamaru.

"Man who would have thought that girl would be strong enough to take the three of us out. That and that baka Kiba wouldn't help us out. So Shikamaru, what are we going to do? You have another idea to try to take him out?" Sakura asked.

"No, we're not going to try again. Getting revenge for Ino was a mistake." Shikamaru responded.

"What do you mean Shikamaru? You saw what he did, and you know what he did to Ino. How can you say what he did was right?" Sakura responded.

"I'm not saying that what he did was right. In fact, I'm still mad at him for what he did. However, Sakura what really did we plan on doing to him last night? Would we fight him and beat him into submission? Would we do another step and cripple him for life? Maybe however, we would just kill him there and that would really show him."

"Who cares. He needs to be punished at any cost."

"Sakura, if you would just grow up and analyze the situation, you would see the truth. Fact is, Ino pissed off an enemy that she knows that she couldn't handle. Had that have been an enemy shinobi, she could have died or worse. In a way, he helped us by showing us what being a shinobi is all about. It's not about glamor, stopping the bad guy, or getting rescued by your prince, it's about beating your enemy for your village regardless of who you piss off."

Sakura was shocked. Very few people had the courage to say something like that to her. In a way, Naruto spoiled her. In a response, she tried to slap Shikamaru across the face, but he casted his shadow on her and froze her in her tracks.

"I'm not finished Sakura." Shikamaru started. "Our whole goal throughout this whole thing was revenge. We wanted to avenge Ino for what Lucien did, but did you forget about the girl? If we went through with the plan, do you honestly think that that girl, the other boy, Naruto and Ayame would just sit back?"

"Well … no." Sakura answered, starting to cool off a bit. "To be honest, I never even thought about how Naruto and Ayame would feel about it. I just knew that getting revenge is important."

"Of course you didn't see that. I doubt that anyone striving for revenge really thinks about who else gets hurt. They don't ever notice that the same pain they experience, they are giving to someone else who did absolutely nothing to deserve it."

"I guess I understand that Shikamaru, but even so, should we just let people who do such things simply get away with their crimes?" Choji asked.

"We are shinobi, not judges. All we need to worry about is doing the job that our village tells us to do. If we come across him as an enemy should the day come, we take him out. However, as long as he serves Konoha and is a comrade of ours, all we can do is talk to him and report his actions to the Hokage and let him take care of it for us."

"That being said," Shikamaru said smirking, "the chunin exam finals are approaching quickly and I do have a bit of anger that I still want to take out on him. I'll hit him where it hurts most, in the finals of the chunin exams."

Naruto had been attempting to get the primary step of the Rasengan for the better part of the day, but couldn't seem to pop the balloon. For him, it seemed that no matter how fast he could get the chakra to spin, and how flat he could get the balloon to go, he couldn't seem to get the thing to pop. Right now, most of his chakra was depleted and he was beginning to get very weary. However, he knew that if he was to stop for even a moment then most of the work that he had done would be null and void. At the same time, he knew that his progress was halted. He had to try something new, but he had no idea what when an idea hit him. He would do an exercise that his teammates advised him to do. Meditation

Meditation never came easy for the boy. He was very hyperactive and energetic and because of that, sitting still and thinking was difficult. After much practice, and a couple of beatings from his male teammate, he could meditate at least in small bursts.

_Let me think about this for a second. When Ero-sennin did the jutsu, it was shaped like a ball. If I keep doing this, then the jutsu will look more like a disc and then the jutsu will not work. Obviously then I'm doing the wrong thing. But if that's the case then how do I get the ball to pop. There has to be something that I'm missing but I have no idea what. Let's see, I know Ero-sannin and Kaa-san won't really help me out, Lucien is somewhere out in the forest so he's out, that leaves Ayame-chan. No, Kaa-san is likely watching her like a hawk so she's ruled out. I need to figure this one out on my own._

Naruto at that time had gotten tired of sitting still and began to roll the balloon from one hand to the other on the ground. He just kept rolling it back and forth without even watching it when it all of a sudden popped. Naruto wasn't even paying attention when he heard it, but when he looked down, he realized that he indeed did pop the balloon. Confused, Naruto took out another balloon and rolled it back and forth again. After a few more minutes of rolling it, it popped again.

_Wait, why did it pop? Could it be that the change of direction of the flow of the water is what is popping the balloon? Wait, Ero-sannin's balloon was very lumpy and bumpy. That means that the water was flowing all around the balloon in multiple directions. I see. In order to pop the balloon I need to swirl my chakra in several directions at once. That is going to be difficult though. Even though my chakra control is much better then it was, it is still likely not even close to what it would be to perform such a feat. Well you know my motto, do it no matter what the cost._

Back in the forest, Lucien and Kanna were once again locked in a battle of wits. They would always play chess after Lucien and Haku would spar under Kanna's watchful eye. As of yet, Kanna still had yet to win a single game. In fact, so far she hadn't even come close.

"So do you think that those four will come back?" Kanna asked worriedly.

"No, I think that I got through to Shikamaru last night. He was the mastermind behind the whole thing. I doubt that Choji would plan something big like a sneak attack. He's far too kind hearted for that. As far as Pinky goes, she lacks initiative. She always has been more of a follower then a leader. Hopefully, Shikamaru can talk some sense into both of them and get them off of this stupid revenge kick once and for all."

"And the dog boy?" Haku asked.

"Nah, Kiba's not really that type. Kiba is kinda like Naruto in that sneak attacks really aren't his style. He'll more like scream at you that he's going to attack you, then he'll follow that up by actually attacking you. I doubt that anybody is going to try and come after us way out here."

"True. However, we've really only been out here for a few days. In Kiri, it was a common practice for certain people to attack the gennins that may give them trouble as far as betting goes. The fact that you are fighting the village prodigy will almost insure that some of them will try and come after you. We should still be on our guard at all times." Haku added.

"Well, that is one of the reasons that we came out all this way. I mean, out in the woods, nobody will try to follow us and I doubt that they would actually take the time to search for us all the way out here."

"But what if they hire one of those giant dogs in town to try and catch onto us? If they did that do you think that we would be followed?" Kanna asked.

"Again I doubt it. The only dog in the Inuzuka kennel that knew my scent was Akamaru and he's never separate from Kiba." Lucien answered.

"OK, but what about the three that attacked us? They have to know the location of our training ground." Kanna worried.

"Now that does strike a problem." Haku added. "I doubt that the three of us could take a team of jonins. Maybe it would be best if we changed our campsite for the time being."

"No. If they found our campsite then they could easily track us to the new location. It's best that we stay here, but we need to secure this location. I say that what we need to do is set up a bunch of more traps around this location. That way, we can be sure to train in peace and quiet until the chunin exam finals." Lucien explained.

He looked over to Haku and the boy seemed to agree with him. He looked over to Kanna and she still looked a bit worried still. "Hey no need to be worried about me Kanna. Likely they won't even bother to come after us. Trust me, we'll be fine. Besides, you and Haku are making me so strong that nothing will be able to stop the three of us so there's really no need to be worried."

"I know. It's just that over the last month I've lost so much. My best friends since my early gennin days died just about a week ago. Then their corpses were raided and ..." Kanna's eyes began to tear up "and I just couldn't bear to lose you too."

Lucien then ran over to Kanna and embraced her. "Kanna, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. You know that. Besides, you know that if I go you will follow right behind me. So even in the HIGHLY unlikely event that I go, you'll be right behind me."

"Really?" Kanna asked hopefully. Lucien just nodded and Kanna buried her head into his shoulder and left it there for the remainder of the resting period.

A whole day had passed since Naruto had attempted to pop the balloon by pumping his chakra in multiple directions. As of right now it took all of his focus and concentration to get the water to swirl in only a few directions, but it still wasn't enough to get the balloon to pop. He knew that it would take a few more rotations and swirls to get the balloon to pop and that he was getting very close to completing this stage of the jutsu.

Over the course of the next couple of days, Naruto had finally been able to master the rotation step of the Rasengan. It took a grand total of seven different directions of rotation before he was finally able to pop the balloon. Jiraiya was very impressed.

_I guess that I shouldn't be surprised at this development. The boy has so much chakra that the normal drain that comes from using this part of the technique just fails to affect him. I guess that now he's ready to attempt the next stage in his training. Hopefully I can get this over with in time to catch the tail end of the action at the springs._

"Well done brat. Now it's time for you to take on the second step. However, before that let me tell you something about each step. The first exorcise that you practiced and just mastered revolves around rotation. You need to be able to get the ball with enough rotation to be able to get the water balloon to pop. The next step is all about powering up the jutsu."

"I see. And just how am I going to master powering up the jutsu?" Naruto wondered.

"I'm getting to that brat. For the first step, you had to let your chakra flow through the water. For the next step, you need to pop a rubber ball. This rubber is a lot thicker and tougher then the skin of the water balloons. Also, there's no water to carry the current of your chakra. You need to be able to pop the ball like this." Jiraiya took the ball in his hand and popped it in an instant.

"You'll notice that this step is significantly tougher then the previous one. It takes a lot more chakra and has more potential to explode right in your face. Be careful, but at the same time, be diligent. I'll be back later to check on your progress."

_He mastered the first step in record time. However, let's see if he can master this step and figure out the secret of the jutsu by himself. I have high aspirations for this kid and I pray to Kami that he can master this step before the exams start. However, that would probably be a bit too much to expect from him._

Naruto just looked at the ball for a while before grabbing it. He then tried to put all the previous spin on the jutsu and tried to get it to pop. He channeled a lot of chakra into the jutsu, but the ball didn't seem go give him any room. He could feel it expand, but he couldn't seem to get it to pop.

_I see. Ero-sannin was right. I'm putting much more power into this then the last step, but have the same amount of rotations. I need to find a way to put as much power into this thing as possible but how? I guess the only way for me to get this at this point is to just go after it head on until I can think of something._

Naruto continued for the rest of the day, but he never got any farther. He trained to the point to where he couldn't control his hands anymore and that scared him. He decided to simply rest on his training grounds for the day and wait for his reserves to replenish themselves before tackling the exercise again in the morning.

Naruto continued to attempt the exercise for the course of the next couple of days and he never made any sort of progress at all. He kept increasing the power, but every single time, the ball would give, but it wouldn't break. Every day would end with his hands stinging from the complete lack of chakra.

After about a week, he realized that all he had been working on for the past week was one jutsu, and while it was import for him to master new things, he also needs to keep up with his old skills and keep his taijutsu in perfect form. He slipped himself out of his shoes and summoned a horde of clones to spar with. During training he liked to keep his feet uncovered because it allowed him better movement for them.

He trained hard over the course of the day and once again he ended up on top as the best him After the exercise, he walked over to the stream near where he trained but on the way there, he stepped on a rock. A very pointy rock that cut into his foot and caused the boy to double up in pain.

Naruto fell down and looked back at the rock that caused him so much pain. _Damn it. How the hell does such a small rock hurt me so much? Wow it looks pointed and all my weight landed right on it. Wait a minute. That's it. If instead of spreading the chakra all over my palm, I only put it in a single spot, then I can more power out of it just like that rock. I'll get my water first, but after that, I'm going to pop that ball into tiny pieces._

It was that day that Naruto had his first breakthrough since starting the preparation of the second stage. He popped a small hole in the ball. Not too much, but it was still much more progress then he had seen over the course of the last week.

_Hmmm. He's starting to get close. Let's see, so far we've used up about a week and a half of our time. That means we have a full course of two and a half weeks to finish this up before the exams begin. That may just be enough time for him to finish the second stage of the jutsu._

Ayame tried another rush at Kushina with her bow, but Kushina was easily able to parry it and land a couple of palm shots on Ayame. One shot hit her in the shoulder and the other one hit her above the left breast. Ayame flew back and hit a tree.

"Still too slow and predictable. I'm using a style similar to the Hyuuga's and it's something that you need to be prepared with. Now get up and let's get back to business. Winning this fight for you is essential in more ways than one. In fact, your fight is probably more important than any other match up in the first round."

"I don't understand sensei. I know that my match is important but how is my match more important then the others? I mean Lucien is fighting the top person in the class and Naruto-kun is matched up against a mentally challenged psycho." Ayame responded.

"Maybe so, but this match affects your future and your relationship with my son for the rest of your life. I know that you may not see things this way, but she looks at you like a rival and the key to keeping a rival at bay is a mental advantage. Hinata will be out to try and prove a point and you need to be prepared for that."

"I can understand that much, but still, I doubt that Naruto will just leave me because Hinata wins in a match. Don't get me wrong, I plan on crushing her."

"He may not do that, but keep in mind that I doubt that Hinata is a Hyuuga and has much more power politically then you ever will. She's shy and timid, but if she truly thinks that she is better for Naruto then you are then there's no doubt in my mind that she'll attempt to use that power to drive a wedge between you two and then swoop in like a vulture." Kushina said. At the end, her face turned away from her body as if remembering a very painful memory. "People with power have a tendency to try and use it whenever possible."

"Did something like that happen before sensei?"

"You could say that. My love when I met him, Nariko's father, was once crazy about another girl. Her name was Yuri. In fact, when I met him, they had been dating for about a year. It was the chunin exams of the year I turned sixteen when we met and it was like magic. We first met when we ambushed them in the second exam in whirlpool when he fought tooth and nail to protect both her and his other teammate. At the time I thought of him as an enigma of sorts."

"Anyway, we both failed the exams that year and for the next half year, all I could think about was his fierce eyes, the way he protected his teammates, and just his overall attitude. I guess you could say over time that I secretly fell in love with him. Does this sound familiar?" Kushina asked when Ayame just nodded. "We met again at the next chunin exams and my attitude was completely different. You could say that before I was like Naruto, only with a worse attitude, but when we met again, I was kinda like Hinata." Kushina started to laugh openly at this point. "Oh kami, I couldn't speak a full sentence to the guy."

"Wait," Ayame said, "you stuttered, blushed, and left the room every time Naruto-kun's father was even in your presence." Kushina just nodded ashamed and Ayame couldn't stop laughing for a while.

"Anyway, I saw how happy he was with Yuri and how happy she was with him so I didn't plan on getting involved. That is, until I fought her in the exam finals that year. I won and because of that I doubted just how good Yuri was for him. Over time, it became an obsession and you could say that I wouldn't let myself lose."

"So, what did you do about it?" Ayame wondered.

"Well, behind the scenes I would pressure my grandfather, the leader of Whirlpool, and I got permission to wed Naruto's father in a political marriage. It worked too. I got what I wanted Yuri didn't. I broke up a relationship years in the makings because I thought I knew in my heart that I was the better one for him."

"Oh Kami. I can't believe that you would do something like that. Why would you do something like that?"

"Women in love do strange things. Women with power in love can do things that defy all odds. If Hinata gets that edge on you then she may scheme and plan her way and force Naruto away from you and into her heart. That and I don't want to see you become like Yuri." Kushina told her. She was now on the literal verge of tears.

"What did end up happening to her anyway?"

"She went crazy. You remember my baby girl that I told you about?" Ayame nodded as she remembered the story clearly and shock was evident on her face. "Well, she sold her off and was the one who eventually did me in. I really like you Ayame and I know that you're perfect for my son. I don't want to you end up like she did." Kushina reached down and wrapped Ayame up in her arms.

"You're the first one that I told about this you know?" Kushina said after she released the younger girl. "It's not something that I'm proud of, but at the same time it's something that you need to know and be on the lookout for in the upcoming fight. Now, come at me as you would Hinata."

Naruto had worked almost nonstop over the course of the next week and a half on the second step of the Rasengan. So far, he was still only able to poke a small hole in the rubber ball. Of course, he worked on other things besides that, but he spent most of the focus on completing the second step and he was starting to get frustrated. He was going to try just one more time to finish the step for the day and he was going to put everything into this.

He put his hand underneath the ball and began to swirl the chakra. He then got all the way up to his seventh rotation and he could feel the ball start to expand. When he felt that expansion, he put every last ounce of chakra in his body into the ball and it popped completely. However, the explosion was so vicious, it sent him careening back about twenty feet and he stumbled upon a girl with red hair, bathing in the lake. Her hair reached down to her butt and she looked to be about Ayame's height and age. She was alone, but at the same time, she looked pissed.

"What the fuck are you doing here asshole? You fucking pervert. Who the hell do you think you are stumbling upon a bathing girl?" She screamed. Naruto saw the girl's state of undress before turning the same color as the other girl's hair before turning around and running the other way. "Fucking perv. She muttered before turning around and going back to what she was doing before. Somethings_ bothering me though. Why the fuck is it that boy seems familiar? Perverted bastard._

…........................................................

Alright, I know that some of you are thinking some things now so I'll address them here.

The finals start next chapter for sure.

Naruto is working on the Rasengan without use of the second hand. Thats why even with his boost in skill it's taking the same amount of time.

Tayuya has appeared!!!!!

Naruto won't quite master the Rasengan yet. He won't finish stage 3 for a small while yet. Reason, his entire skill set needs a tiny bit more work before I think that he can take Gaara. He will master it, (correctly and 1 handed) but not before the exam.

Just a one more thing.

Another chapter of Tanebi will be released shortly.

Thank you for reading F, W and V

Next chapter: Exams Begin. Hinata vs Ayame.

Please Review


	21. Finals Begin

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 21: Let the Finals Begin

Let the finals begin and not a moment too soon. Yes, after three long chapters of buildup it's time for the finals. But first, let's get down to reviews.

Bluestone: I just think that's his character. I mean if all that's been in your mind for your whole life basically, it'd be hard to get out of your mind.

Dragonnoir: It's definitely controversial that's for sure. The trio was mainly just really angry but now they can finally start acting like ninja. I also doubt that Hinata would go that far, but I doubt that she would just step aside. Sorry, Tayuya will be paired with Haku, but man do I have a troublesome pair for Shikamaru. One who is just about as much trouble as Tayuya.

Beau-jeezay: Oops. Yeah I'll have to get that taken care of. Thanks for letting me know.

Ranmacat: Thank you. I'll update as fast as I can.

DrunkmanSquakin: Oh you'll see the angle that I have for her and I think that you'll like it.

DeExil: You know it's funny, Kushina is either pure evil or complete good. I'm doing the impossible and making her human. I personally love her character (even though practally nothing has been revealed about her that I know of).

LordHatred and MorganDaratrazanoff: Thanks a lot. I'll try and update as soon as possible without sacrificing quality.

Alright well, let's get this thing underway shall we?

…........................................

Time was running out for all participants for the exam finals, and everyone was getting ready in their own way.

Lucien had finished his balance training with Kanna and was now working on his sword training with Haku. For that exercise he was supposed to use his sword to hit a bunch leaves as they fell to the ground. If that wasn't tough enough, he had to do the entire exercise blindfolded. However, the exercise worked very well and made him more efficient with his sword work as well as increased his speed. In break times, he still worked on some strategical exercises to help him out think the Nara genius

Shikamaru had not been slacking around either. He was getting drilled by his sensei and his own father. His father had been training him in more advanced techniques that would further help him to they and take down the silver haired gennin.

Kushina had begun to take it easy on the ramen waitress. With time starting to run out until the finals came, Ayame couldn't afford to take to big of a hit and risk getting injured. However, that being said, Ayame was still working hard on her bow skills. Even when she wasn't working on using the bow as a middle range weapon, she was still working on new submission maneuvers and her accuracy with her bolts.

Hinata was now getting special training with her father. After she advanced, he actually admitted that he was proud of her performance and offered special training. They talked about some Hyuuga maneuvers that would help Hinata to repel the bolts that Ayame would fire. She was still a bit nervous about fighting Naruto's girlfriend, but she knew that if she was going to win the heart of her beloved, then this is one fight that she could not afford to lose.

With Hinata being trained by the elite Hyuuga, Neji was left bitter and untrained. The fact that he and his sensei were really not seeing eye to eye after his fight with Lee. That left his training options to Tenten and … well … Tenten. His anger would propel his training and he would show all of them that it was not a good idea to mess with the Hyuuga prodigy, even at the cost of his best friend at the academy.

Sora, also thought that she would be on her own training. However, in Kakashi's place, Ebisu had to this point been a very effective trainer for the girl. So far he had helped her with her current jutsu and was on the verge of helping her reach a breakthrough on her next lightning jutsu. She really didn't want to fight against Neji with all the history that they had, but she also knew that Neji was in a dark place and a good old fashioned slug fest was the only thing that could bring moody Neji into the normal Neji that she knows and tolerates.

Gaara had spent the last month in a desperate struggle to try and keep the raging beast inside him dormant, but struggled every single night. Especially on the night of the full moon. That night, he had to go on a killing spree in the forest. He searched out anything left alive in the Forest of Death. Mostly, all that he found were animals, but he was able to find a could of gennin still clinging to their life. He was constantly on the wait for his fight because he knew that the blood from the one who defeated his brother would be the only thing to satisfy the chaos inside him.

Sasuke himself was getting pushed harder then anything from his scarecrow sensei. His rivalry with the silver haired gennin Lucien was one that was years in the making. They butted heads very often in the academy and he was the only one who could match him in spars. Not only that, but his team got a C-ranked mission before his team did. Also, his team had gotten more C-ranks. He knew that a win over his rival would assert himself as the most dominant gennin of the class and he would be one step closer to his ultimate goal of getting revenge on his brother. He knew that Lucien would beat Shikamaru, unless Shikamaru was completely sold on revenge. If that was the case, then Shikamaru could probably be persuaded in joining his cause.

After mastering step two, Jiraiya had shown him step three, which he was supposed to master in his time away from training. In the last week, Naruto worked mainly on his taijutsu and making sure that it was as crisp and flawless as possible. Naruto also worked hard on his summoning and on his channeling of the chakra of the beast inside him. On the Rasengan, Naruto had not gotten much progress. Completely containing the jutsu was not an easy task to complete, but Naruto knew that he would be up to the task and find a way to complete it before his match with the redhead Gaara. He had to if he was to be successful.

Time had continued to progress, and it was now the day before the finals were to begin. Almost all of the sensei's had given their gennin the day off so that they would be perfectly fresh for the exams. In that time also, Lucien and his crew arrived back in the village to see a fair of some kind already in progress. After a brief convincing from Kanna, Lucien and company went to the fair and had a great time.

Naruto and Ayame also attended the fair together. It was the first time that they had been together in almost a month and they were practically dying to see each other. They started out their date by first going out to get something to eat. Naruto wanted to get ramen, but he also knew that Ayame would want to eat something different. He knew that she had a strong affinity for sushi, so he took her to the nicest sushi place in the fair.

They placed their order for food, and in the meantime began to talk for a long time about their month apart.

"You know Naruto-kun, I missed you so much over this month you know?" Ayame said.

"I did too Ayame-chan. I hope that Kaa-san wasn't really too tough on you." Naruto said while Ayame just giggled.

"You know your mother and how she is. She'd pretty much beat me up, and then heal me just so that she can beat me up some more. It was good for me though. I got a lot better at fighting. What did you and that pervert do for your training?"

"He taught me a lot. First thing that he did was teach me how to summon a really huge frog like Yondaime and himself can." Ayame was very confused about summoning because it really wasn't something that was covered at the academy. Needless to say, she was incredibly shock at the prospect of riding a talking frog as big as her house. The very thought gave her nightmares. "Yeah it takes so much chakra that I have to borrow … well … that."

"That? You mean … oh Kami that?" Ayame said worriedly. "Isn't that really dangerous though? I mean what would happen to you if it came out?"

"I don't know. We did discover though that it's chakra is tied to my emotions. Ero-sennin told me that if I used it's chakra to protect those I care about, then there's no chance that it will come out and do anything to me. However, if I ever walk on the dark side ..."

"Naruto-kun, I've known you essentially my whole life." Ayame told him. She reached out and grabbed his hands. "I know you so well. And I know that there is no way that you would ever walk on the dark side. Besides, even if he does try and come out, I know that you would force that evil bastard back into his cell."

Naruto looked at Ayame kinda funny. She was a type of girl that never swore unless she was really angry. He assumed that it was all the time that she spent with his mom. That reminded him of another thing that happened, but he wasn't sure how she would react. But he figured that he had to tell someone about that and she was the only available person.

"By the way, Ayame-chan? Something really strange happened while I was training. I saw this … girl after an explosion during training." Ayame always listened to Naruto, but when he said girl, her ears pinned forward. She was not a jealous person by any means. Quite the contrary, she knew that the only thing he loved as much as her was her ramen and there was no way he'd ever risk losing both. However, she was still intrigued by what happened. "You see, after the explosion I saw this girl, but here's the strange thing. She looked like someone that we both know really well." He left out the part that she was just wearing a scowl but he figured that wasn't really relevant information.

"Who did she look like Naruto-kun? Lucien? Kanna? Haku?" Naruto shook his head at all of those suggestions. "Well tell me. No wait, Naruto-kun let me see how good you are with your kekki-genkai. Show me what she looked like."

Naruto had no idea how to do this. Over his time of practice, his ability with his bloodline had gotten much better, but at the same time, he needed to alter the image just a tad. He looked to his left and saw a woman in a simple blue shirt with jeans and decided that would be a good cover for the girl. He then used his transformation and Ayame could tell right away who this person looked like.

"You know what, they do look very similar. You think that she's ..."

"No idea. I don't even know how she got there." Naruto said as he reverted back to his original form. "But I do know that this is something that I need to look into."

The day had come and gone just like that and before Naruto and Ayame knew it, the time had finally come for the finals to begin. Most of the gennin that were competing dressed similarly to the way they dressed in for missions with a few exceptions. Ayame recently bought Naruto a new combat outfit that he was currently dressed in. It was a black shirt without sleeves and matching black pants. His sleeves though were made up by a layer of orange spandex beneath the shirt. Lucien had also changed his outfit into something that Kanna had insisted that he wear. It was a green tunic with matching green pants with a white undershirt underneath. He also had on leather wrist braces but now, like Kanna, he also chose to show his bare feet. He wore a brown headband underneath his protector. (It's Rufus's outfit from VP:S). Other then that, everybody was dressed the same. The odd thing was though that Sasuke had not shown yet.

Gaara was giving Naruto a very sinister and evil looking gaze from across the arena and it was beginning to put every member of team one on edge. Meanwhile, Shikamaru looked to be in a zone. He certainly remembered the butt kicking delivered by Kanna, but now it was a little different situation. He didn't want revenge for Ino any more, but he still wanted to beat the other gennin good.

Before the opening ceremonies began, team one finally reunited for the first time in a month. Even Kanna and Haku were present for the reuniting.

"Well, well, looks like both of you made it through your training." Lucien said as he approached the group. Kanna had a firm hold on his shoulder and Haku stood to the left. "Man, you guys are looking great. Especially you Naruto. Looks like Ayame really whipped you into shape in more ways then one I might add."

"Actually, we've been apart as well. Ayame-chan trained with Kaa-san and well … let's just say I got stuck with the world's biggest pervert." Naruto said with a huge smile. This was the first time he had been with his best friend in a month and was really feeding off the energy from his entire team. "If you ask me, you and Kanna were alone in the woods. Are you sure nothing didn't happen on your side?" Naruto asked with a leer. Lucien and Haku just groaned while Kanna blushed a deep crimson.

"Touche. But still it's good to see both of you are alright. I would ask what you guys have been learning, but I think that it would be better if we just waited and saw. I like to be surprised." Lucien then caught Gaara's glare and look of blood lust directed at Naruto and his look turned very serious. "Hey Naruto, that guy is troubled I can see it. If there's anyone who can snap him out of that it's you. Always remember that during the fight." He then turned his look to Ayame. "You know how important this fight is right Ayame?" Ayame nodded. Her talk with Kushina had given her a focus that she rarely experienced. "Good. Hinata won't pull any stops on you. Don't even let her hang around and gain confidence. You need to take her out at the start. End it quickly."

Ayame nodded. She had a similar tactic in mind, but still to here it from the strategist of their team was a very reassuring thing. Naruto had also heard what he wanted to from his best friend. During the ceremony, team one knew that nothing was going to stop them from becoming chunin.

In the forest, many Oto and Suna ninja were starting to accumulate. They knew what the signal was and were simply waiting for it. Temari and Kankuro were along with them, but they had a couple of targets specially in mind. Part of the plan was for them to be in the middle of the arena so that they could help Gaara in any way possible. This however worked out better for them. Instead of worrying about possible invasion plans, now they had time to train and prepare themselves for their new rivals. Kankuro himself couldn't wait to rip apart the Konoha gennin that defeated him in the exam prelims. Meanwhile, Temari still couldn't believe that the girl on that team got the jump on her and she wanted to get back at the girl.

Also, a four man squad from Oto was getting ready for a sneak attack. They didn't really get along to well, but still they were a very effective unit. However, one of them at the moment seemed to be very distracted with something. More specifically, the redheaded girl of the group just couldn't get an image of a clueless blond out of her mind and it was driving her crazy.

_Who the fuck is that? I swear, I mean I know that I've seen him before but I have no idea where. Maybe I can find that perverted shit and beat the fuck out of him until he tells me just where we met before I castrate his perverted ass for peeping on me._

That same redhead had been in a bad mood for about a week and the other members had no idea why but they did know that they wanted to stay as far away from her as humanly possible.

The opening ceremonies had ended and the chunin exam floor had cleared except for the two contestants and the proctor. The rest of the contestants had cleared into a special box reserved for just them. Ayame stood about ten feet from Hinata and just glared at her, while Hinata gazed into Ayame's eyes with determination.

"Look Ayame,": Hinata started. "I know what you and Naruto-kun currently have. However, for the same reason why I admire Naruto-kun is why I won't give up on him."

"I know Hinata. However, I've been good friends and now the girlfriend of Naruto-kun. I know everything about him and I will never let him go as long as I live."

Sparks started to fly between the two girls who were fighting over one thing and one thing only. Everyone in the arena could sense the tension starting to fly between the two and it looked as if everything was about to explode all over the arena. Ayame took her bow off her back and Hinata activated her Byukugan. Finally, after seemingly hours of intense glaring, the proctor announced that the fight was to begin.

Hinata wasted no time in going after the ramen waitress. Her palms and fists were ready to seal every single chakra point in Ayame's body in one fell swoop. However, just when it seemed that Hinata was going to hit her, Ayame used her bow to parry Hinata's fist aside gently. Hinata's momentum carried her right into a trip from Ayame and the waitress hooked the left heel of the Hyuuga heiress. Hinata, though had studied her competition and used her other foot to trap the Hyuuga in a body scissors. She then used her leg strength and position to flip the ramen waitress on her belly. With Ayame in a situation like that, Hinata changed her position and put one leg just underneath Ayame's left shoulder blade and tried to put pressure on a chakra point in Ayame's left arm. Ayame, though reached for her bow and smacked Hinata in the face with it getting her off. Both girls got up quickly and resumed their staring match.

"Nice strategy by Hinata." Lucien muttered. "Ayame may have it much rougher then I originally thought."

"What do you mean? You honestly don't think that Ayame-chan is in trouble do you? There's no way that she'll lose here." Naruto said.

"Maybe, maybe not. It has to do with scouting." Lucien pointed out. "You see, me, you, Hinata, and Ayame have all known each other since the academy. Which means that Hinata knows everything that Ayame is going to do and vice versa. However, Hinata has flipped the tables by trying to use Ayame's submissions against her as we just saw. Because Ayame can't copy what Hinata will do, Hinata is starting to take the psychological advantage. That in itself is key in a match like this."

"I'm still not worried. I know that Ayame-chan will take Hinata down." Naruto said.

Hinata and Ayame went back at each other. This time, Ayame led the charge with her bow leading the assault. Hinata had a hard time defending against the onslaught of attacks dealt by the bow. Hinata let the bow graze her cheek but at the same time she was able to lean in and get in Ayame's face. Worriedly, Ayame went back on the defensive. She knew all about the gentle fist style from her training with Kushina and was easily able to tell just where Hinata was aiming for. At the same time, Ayame also knew that she couldn't afford to let even one blow land. She then reached back for a dangerous strategy that she felt might work in this situation, but was too scared to attempt in practice.

Ayame leaped backwards and let Hinata close the distance. That however was what Ayame wanted. She put a bolt in her bow and fired point blank at the charging Hyuuga. Surprised by the lethal attack, she leaned back just in time for the bolt to pass by her cheek, drawing a bit of blood.

Using the time that she just aquired, Ayame jumped back and loaded her bow with a single bolt and put all of her chakra into that arrow. She wanted to end this battle with the same attack that saved her against Tenten.

"Give it up now Hinata. It's over. You've seen this attack before and know what it can do. I don't want to have to end this tragically, and you know that."

Hinata stood back up and used her bloodline's famous glare to stare down Ayame. "You know as well as I do that he wouldn't quit. I will never quit and never back down. I can't face him unless I follow that to my grave. Just try it."

"I hope you survive Hinata. I think that you're one of the kindest and strongest girls that I know and I'd hate to kill you. Finishing Strike Pulverizing Storm." Ayame fired her bolt and it multiplied hundreds of times. Hinata however made no effort to try and dodge. In fact, she just dug her feet into the ground and began to spin around very quickly. Out of her fingertips came very small looking laser beams. She kept sinning and spinning and one by one, every single one of the arrows fell.

The entire arena was shocked, but nobody was more shocked then the top elite of the Hyuuga clan. Hiashi had only taught Hinata the basics of the trigram rotation, and here it seemed that Hinata had improved it into something that could be used in a more versatile manner. He had no idea what his daughter was capable of and was extremely curious to see what she could do.

"Tou-san," spoke a small Hyuuga girl from Hiashi's left. "What is that technique? Is that something that I will be taught sometime?"

"That Hanabi is an adaptation on an ancient Hyuuga technique. In fact, I think that may even be an improvement."

"But I don't understand, why is it that neechan would try and change our style? I mean, it's what makes us the strongest clan in Konoha. Why change what works?" Hanabi asked.

"Hanabi, our eyes make us a very dominant clan. However, not all Hyuuga are built to execute that style. I saw in our previous sessions, that your sister lacks a couple of the essentials that would suit her for out style. I tried to force those essentials on her, but now I see what she did behind my back. She changed our style to fit her. It doesn't make her weak, just … different I guess. It's something that the whole clan will have to deal with." Hiashi noted.

In the gennin booth, everyone was stunned. Lucien, who had thought that the fight could go either way, now did not like Ayame's chances. He had never even heard of Pulverizing Storm being stopped dead in its tracks the way that it had. In fact, everyone thought that Hinata was in a good position to win. The only one who felt that even after all this that Ayame would win was Naruto.

Ayame was mystified. She had never seen a defense like that. It looked like the same defense that Neji used, and at the same time, so much more powerful. She had no idea what to do now, but it would need to be a huge move to turn this fight back in her favor.

Hinata however didn't even give Ayame room to breathe. She regained her assault with a flurry of palm strikes that all barely missed the target. Ayame knew that her same tactic of backing up and firing wouldn't work twice, so she needed to try something else. Hinata kept on attacking and attacking while Ayame kept on backing up until her back was against the wall of the chunin exam arena. With her back against the wall and nowhere else to run, it looked over. Hinata attacked with a palm strike and Ayame used her riskiest strategy to this point.

She jumped into the air and used her hands to hold onto the wall of the chunin exam floor. The next move that Ayame pulled was wrapping her legs around Hinata's neck and used her powerful legs to swing the Hyuuga girl down to the ground. With her legs still around Hinata's neck, Ayame grabbed both of Hinata's wrists. Ayame then let go of Hinata's neck with her legs and made her way back to her feet. Ayame then lifted the top half of Hinata up and put her good foot on the back of Hinata's head and ruthlessly shoved the Hyuuga's head onto the ground, knocking her unconscious and officially ended the fight.

Ayame won the fight and looked over her injuries herself. For one, in the last attack, Ayame's left leg was completely numb. The impact from Hinata's body easily injured it. Also, Ayame took a few gentle fist shots to her chest and was having a small bit of trouble breathing. She also had minor scrapes, but nothing serious there. Ayame knew that she got pretty lucky in the end.

Meanwhile, the entire arena erupted in applause. Not only for the reason that a Hyuuga was knocked off by a ninja of no pedigree, but also because it showed the dominance and capability of Konoha kunoichi.

Hiashi was disappointed by his daughter's loss for sure. He knew that it could come back to bite them later, but he was also proud of his daughter's fighting abilities.

"Tou-san, Hinata lost to a commoner. How big of a disgrace is that anyway? I mean, Hyuuga shouldn't lose to commoners."

"Hanabi, your sister fought well out there. You see, many ninjas of non-noble blood have gone on to become great shinobi. For one, both our current hokage and Yondaime were both born from either lesser clans or no clan at all in Yondaime's case. If your sister keeps improving at this rate, she may well one day even surpass me." Hiashi said.

"I knew Ayame-chan would do it. Wow she's gotten really strong over the last month." Naruto said very excitedly.

"And so has Hinata. She gave Ayame the fight of her life to be sure. She's come a long way from blushing every time you walk into a room that's for sure." Lucien said.

"Yeah she's gotten better that's for sure. But why would she blush when I walk into a room. I thought that she always did that." Lucien slapped his forehead. Even to this day, it shocked him how the boy could be so dense.

As Ayame limped her way to the contestant box, Lucien turned his attention to his former best friend. Or to put it better, his two former best friends before joining team one, Sora, and Neji.

….....................................

Chapter 21 is done and the finals have begun. Likely next chapter will cover the next fight between Sora and Neji and will also cover the Lucien vs Shika fight.

I'm putting this chapter up on nothing more then fumes so I have no idea how it turned out.

Expect a new chapter of Tanebi to be released sometime later this week.

Thank you for reading.

Next chapter: Friends turned Rivals

Please review


	22. Friends turned Rivals

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 22: Friends turned Rivals

Everyone welcome back to F, W, and V. Before I begin … yeah you know the drill.

DeExil: I actually like NaruxHina if they're done well, but that's a little rare. That being said, I do like her with someone else and it's not Kiba.

Prague: I'm getting more experience with it and that's so huge. I'm starting to find my style which is good. Let's hope I can keep it up.

Bluestone: Glad that you liked it. I was worried that I overpowered Hinata a bit, but it looks like I didn't.

DrunkmanSpuakin: I think I found it. How I missed it I have no idea, but it probably had to do with me running on fumes.

Hebi-kage: Thanks. I hope you continue enjoying it.

Call015: It sure is. I think you'll like what I'm going to do there.

Not much else to go on, so I guess that I'll get on with the chapter.

Naruto won't be too big of a player in this chapter, but his primary focus is on Gaara. Don't worry though, that match will get started pretty soon.

Let's start the action.

…...............

"Well well, what a reunion this is." Neji said as he approached Sora and Lucien in the gennin box. "The three of us back together after all these months. Fate is definitely smiling upon us today." He added with a sneer.

"Neji." Sora said looking away from the young Hyuuga. Lucien said nothing in response. He just stared at Neji right in the eyes.

"Why so serious you two? You know how close the three of us used to be. In fact, you Sora I believe were quite smitten with me, and you used to look up to me. You saw me as an older brother eh Lucien?" Neji said.

"That was a long time ago!" Lucien shouted as he moved his fingertips to his sword. Naruto and Ayame were stunned. He never rose his voice unless he was mad, really mad. They knew that a lot more used to happen between these two, but they would wait for their friend to explain it.

"Itching for a fight?" Neji asked. "As I recall, you were the weakest out of the three of us. In fact, you could never beat either of us in a spar and that hasn't changed. You were always destined to be nothing but a middle of the pack shinobi. I'll give you this though, you're far better then that trash that you call teammates."

"That's enough Neji." Sora said getting the Hyuuga's attention. "Look, whatever happened in the past is the past. What's now is now and you have have a lot of issues. I'll see you down at the arena floor." Sora then left the box in shaking a bit. Neji then cast a glare at Lucien and snorted before leaving himself.

"Hyuuga, just what happened to you anyway?" Lucien asked somberly to the air, and Naruto and Ayame then came up to comfort their friend.

"Hey what's the story with you three?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, you actually used to look up to that asshole?" Ayame said.

"It's a long story." Lucien replied. "He didn't always used to be this way you know? Sure he was always serious, but to be honest, he looked after us and trained with us. We were loners. I had nobody in my life, as did Sora, and Neji … well … he has clan issues I'd rather not go into."

"I was seven when I met Sora." Lucien continued. "It was a chance meeting and soon after that I met Neji through her. For about four years we trained together when we were all outside of class. But soon after we were separated. Neji and Sora were split up and I was still in the academy. I guess there was when Neji started to backtrack."

"Backtrack?" Naruto asked. "What do you mean?"

"Neji always had anger issues for his clan. Somehow though, Sora and I were at least able to calm him down somewhat, but when we met him again, it looked like he snapped. Like all the anger and resentment he had just took over."

Meanwhile, Neji and Sora had walked down the long way and met up on the floor of the chunin exam arena. Both participants exchanged looks. Neji himself had a look that had anger laced with extreme confidence. Sora could barely look Neji in the eye. She was so distracted by her past with Neji that she could hardly focus on the here and now.

"You know how this will end don't you?" Neji asked. "Fate never lies and it's telling me that you are destined to lose here to me."

"And are you the voice of fate?" Sora asked. "Do the voices of fate speak exclusively to you Neji? I'll tell you what, you don't know fate because fate has no voice. Fate doesn't talk. In fact, fate has no voice because it doesn't exist. Get your head out of your arse Pale Eyes."

"Such talk is irrelevent. You know the fates as well as I do. After all, was it not fate that took the lives of your teammates? Fate decided their deaths."

"Fate decided nothing. He chose to die to protect her. He was given a choice and the path that he chose was death. Fate had no hand in it Neji." Sora yelled.

"Even after all this time, you refuse to acknowledge the power of fate. Well then," Neji said activating his byukugan, "I'll just have to show you how powerful fate is Sora!"

"No I'll show you Neji. I'll show you that all that anger and rage inside of you is just eating you up inside. I'll show you that fate does not exist and bring back the Neji that I used to know." Sora said as she brought her scythe out.

"So she's bringing it out huh?" Lucien said. "She's never pulled the scythe out on Neji before. She was always so scared that she might take a limb off or something. She's really serious about bringing the old, less angry and bitter Neji up. Maybe she'll do it."

The proctor announced the match to begin, and Sora rocketed out of the gate. She started off with a wild swing of her scythe which Neji dodged and immidiately countered. Sora parried it with the wooden end of her scythe and again attacked with the blade. Neji jumped the strike and tried to get behind the green haired girl, but Sora was faster and made sure that Neji was still at a distance.

Neji took the next exchange to go on the offensive. He ran forward and attempted to strike at her chest, but she was quick on the retreat and was always able to keep her distance. She used the handle of her scythe to carefully parry and avoid every strike that Neji sent her. Neji sent another palm strike at the girl, but she blocked it with her scythe and pushed back on his palm sending him to the ground.

"Woah, she's good." Naruto said. "She's really good, but why isn't she doing that cool thing with those balls?"

"No good." Lucien responded. "That jutsu wouldn't work against Neji's defense. In all likelyhood, Sora would just be wasting energy and chakra. Her only chance is to keep doing what she's doing and hope that Neji makes a mistake in anger."

"I like her strategy. She's pretty much doing the same thing that I did against Hinata." Ayame said. "However, she's looking a lot better then I did."

"That's not surprising. Neji's a very traditional Hyuuga. He does Hyuuga jyuken perfectly by the books. It's a very effective style, but if you see it enough it gets … bland and predictable. Sora and I have seen it enough so that avoiding it is much easier. That's also how that kid in who fought him earlier did so well too. Hinata though is different. She improvises a lot more and breaks the norm." Lucien said. "When you think about it like that, she can be a bit more dangerous even though she's much weaker."

"I don't get it though." Naruto said. "How can she be more dangerous if she's weaker? Shouldn't the more dangerous be the stronger one?"

"Not in this case. You see, Sora is much weaker then Neji, but she's holding her own. Why? Style. Sora with that scythe is a lot more unpredictable where as Sora already knows all of Neji's moves. That base of unpredictability evens out the field. Just like Hinata. She's nowhere close to Ayame in strength, but her adaptation on Hyuuga taijutsu made her a threat."

Neji got up from the ground and dusted himself off. He still had his Byukugan active, but he now looked much more angry then before. "So you think that with that scythe of yours you stand a chance? Let me show you the difference in power between me and you. It's this difference that is why fate has ruled in my favor."

Neji got up and rushed over to Sora much faster then before. It was so fast, that Sora was barely able to parry a blow that would have landed just below her left breast which would have likely ended the fight right there. With Neji in much closer then he had ever gotten to this point, he rushed forward with a charge that caused a lot of concern for the green haired girl. He backed her up a few step and the surprised her. He spun around furiously in the ultimate Hyuuga defense and sent Sora flying against the wall. Not only that, but she also got separated from her scythe. Sora got up slowly. She had various scrapes on her face and arms, but the real damage was that she had lost her best, and only, weapon.

"Do you see it now Sora?" Neji asked. "Fate bends to no one. Not even old friends, the deceased, or the living. In fact, fate frowns on those who try and defy it and to prove it to you, you are in range Sora." Neji then ran forward in an attempt to pin Sora down once and for all, but he didn't expect her counter in the mannor that she did.

"Lightning style, Lightning body." Sora yelled. Immidiately, her body became a covered with lighting, and when Neji's attack hit her, he was shocked with lightning to the extent that he was forced to cancel it.

"Shocked?" Sora asked. Neji didn't respond, but one could easily tell that he was shocked. "Ya see pale eyes, I knew you'd bring that shit up here sooner or later. That's why my sensei tought me this. Similar to your famous defense, this sends a powerful field of lightning to completely cover my body. And that's why your best weapon is now worthless. Just like your belief in fate Neji."

"And yet you think I didn't notice the flaw in your defense Sora? My eyes see it. The electrcity in your body is so potent and powerful that you have to remain perfectly still to let it flow. If you so much as move once, the field is disrupted and you get the full force of the attack." Neji said. "Clever. You knew that I don't carry weapons or use any projectile attacks to break up the field either. So we have two ultimate defenses."

Neji again rushed forth at Sora. Neji was a bit more careful this time around and watched Sora's hands carefully. She still avoided every attack of Neji's, but each attack came closer then the last. In a desparate attempt, Sora threw a kunai point blank at Neji, which he easily dodged. The move however gave Sora some much needed room to move around and even breathe. She took a glance around the battlefield and saw her scythe halfway across the arena. She knew that without it, she had no shot at beating Neji.

Sora, in a moment of desparation, took out her chakra balls and began to pump some chakra into them. Instantly the balls began to rise and soon after, they began to spark with potent electricity. She threw one of them at Neji, and the other one circled around him.

"You know how useless this is right Sora?" Neji asked. He got no reaction from the girl, but Neji quickly did his heavenly spin. Sora knew that she had the window of only a few second to wwork with before the chakra in the balls would come back and target her. The crowd watched as the balls bounced off of Neji's wall and turn back to Sora. It was then a race contested between Sora getting to her scythe, or her getting taken out by her own attack.

Just when it seemed like Sora would lose the contest, she picked up her scythe from off the ground and sliced right through both of the projectile balls. Neji stopped the spin, only to see Sora, scythe and all again ready to do battle.

"Risky strategy." Lucien muttered.

"I'll say." Naruto said. "Even a half second later and then she's fried."

"Not really what I meant. You see the balls move with a velocity in direct relation to how much chakra is put in." Lucien told them. Naruto scratched his head. He really didn't get the explanation.

"He means that the more chakra she puts in, the faster the attack goes." Ayame explained.

"Oh. Why then didn't you just say that?" Naruto asked.

"We all have our talents. You're the strong one, fast one, and overall leader." Lucien started. "Ayame is our distance specialist, main support, and submission expert. I am the main tactical specialist, and the funny guy. I'm just illustrating that fact to you." The boy added with a grin. "This fight will be over soon."

"Well well, it looks as if you got some serious risks in you. Perhaps it's because you've been hanging around with that ..." Neji started.

"Shut up." Sora interrupted. "I don't know what your issue is, but I'm absolutely sick of it. When you talked to us six months ago … I could tell that you changed, and I am going to change that even if I have to take you out Neji." Sora yelled as she reached her scythe back.

"Do you really think you can? I'll admit you've improved a great deal, but nowhere close enough to win. Fate bends to no one." Neji said as he entered his clans famous taijutsu stance.

Sora raced ahead and swung her scythe and Neji reacted in his famous defense. Blade met chakra and it seemed that neither combatant had an edge. Sora gritted her teeth. She knew that she was on the losing end of this encounter and if she lost now then Neji would be lost forever in the void of anger and self pity.

She flashed back in this instant to when they first met at the academy. When they first met, she was just a small girl with a fiery attitude and a mouth to match, and Neji acted as if he was Kami's gift to the shinobi world. He bumped into her and she cussed him out. It was there that she earned respect in his eyes.

A few months later, they fought in a spar and Neji wiped the floor with her. However she earned respect in his eyes because she would keep coming after him. Days later, the two talked together for a while and they ended up training together.

Sora remembered how after a while, he started to smile a bit when he was around her and Lucien. He seemed to still be moody a bit, but would at least let his two comarades inside his cold heart, and for the first time, she felt like she had a family. A younger sibling in the white-haired boy, and something else for Neji. Something that grew not from physical attraction, but from constant communication and understanding on a much deeper level.

Finally, she remembered when she reunited with Lucien and Neji. Six months after the teams had been announced. Everything changed. Neji went back to the way that he was before he met with the green haired girl. He became bitter and a cold shell of what he really was. He was far from the Neji that she became very close friends with and would rather die then see him continue on this road.

She snapped her eyes back open and forced her will upon her scythe. She fought with all the strength she had and sliced through Neji's defense. The defense shattered and an explosion occurred that forced both participants back. The crowd gasped and waited in silence. They wondered if for the second time today a Hyuuga would be upset by a common shinobi.

All eyes waited on the smoke. Everyone was curious to see which of the two was up, and if none of them were up, which one would get up first. After the some cleared two life-sized holes appeared in the ground. It was pretty clear which one was which. One of them had a hole the shape of a scythe.

After a while of breathless waiting, one of the figures got up from the hole and it turned out to be Neji and he looked horrible. His clothing was covered in small rips and tears and his face was mattered with blood and scrapes. Holding his side, he walked over to where Sora lay.

"History repeats itself. But as you can see fate ..." Neji was interrupted by Sora's scythe circling the back of his head and the blade pressing against the back of his neck. He was trapped and he knew it. If she wanted to, she could bring the pressure down and slice his head clean off. Her eyes snapped oped and glared him right in the eyes.

"You were never this weak Neji. Physically yes you're powerful, but I've never seen you so mentally weak. What happened with you? What could possibly turn you into this, the shell of a strong shinobi?" Sora said with tears forming at her eyes.

"I opened my eyes Sora. Watching my team, and my sensei, I got a true look at the world and how fate works. How it frowns on people and tortures people just for the hell of it. Why can't you see the workings of fate?"

"Because fate doesn't exist." Neji snapped his eyes open even wider in shock. Sure he had heard this moments ago from her, but this time it seemed a lot more real. "We create fate Neji. Yea sometimes life's a bitch, but it's an equal oppurtunity bitch. You talk about how fucked up your life is, but look at your cousin. She gets everything she wants, you said it yourself. But I saw the truth. In her battle, I saw how much she truly fights for what she wants. She knows life's not easy and her goal is fucking impossible, but she still fights." Sora pleaded.

"But … my seal. You know about …"

"FUCK YOUR SEAL NEJI!!!" Sora screamed with all her remaining energy. "If you put as much effort trying to fix the errors of your fucked up clan as you do bitching about your life, then you would see that you can change your clan. You said it yourself, Hinata will be handed the keys to the clan. Don't you think that if you and her work side by side, then maybe you can take this seal out once and for all?"

"It's a nice thought, but Hinata's not strong enough to do that. She'll just get manipulated into doing the elder's biddings and her father's biddings."

"You're wrong again Neji." Sora said. "I saw today a girl with an inner power that when tapped into could change the clan. But you're right, she can't change things by herself. She needs someone on her side. So why not help her? You and I can take her and mold her into the leader that will remove your curse once and for all."

"You and I? What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"Duh pale eyes. You're so hopeless with girls. Obviously this job is way above your hands. You clearly need my help. Hey, and if you set things right, maybe snowball can help her too. So what do you say, do you want to give fate the ol' middle finger salute, or be its bitch for the rest of your life?" Sora asked.

"Just so long as she doesn't pick up your language, that would be alright." Neji said. "I guess that maybe you and I can reunite." If one looked closely, they would see the two of them exchange a slight, and barely noticable grin.

"Oh good Kami you two. Do you even realize that there are like thousands of people who are watching you right now wondering if you're going to do something." Neji and Sora then looked away from each other and Sora put away her scythe. "It's tough being me. I swear. Gotta keep those two teamates of mine away from making public spectacles of themselves, and now I gotta stop you two from doing the same."

"And what about your shiela eh snowball? Don't think I haven't heard stories and seen you two?" Sora said with a smirk on her face. "Oh wait till you see it Neji, she has him completely whipped."

"Alright that's enough." Lucien said. He didn't want this to continue.

"Oh so you found a girl eh?" Neji said. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I said shut up."

"So when can we expect to meet her? You gonna bring her by soon?" Sora asked.

"What will it take to shut you two up? It's good to have you back though Nii-san."

"I'm not all back yet. I have some … issues that I need to work out, but I think that things will get better. Now, you'd better win. After all, I want to face you in the finals." Neji said.

"What do you mean Neji? I kicked your ass." Sora yelled.

"No, I beat the ten count and was up first. That makes me the winner." Neji said.

"Yeah but I put my scythe to your neck. I won." Sora argued.

"Guys?" Lucien asked.

"Fact is, your possum act cost you time. I beat the count and won." Neji yelled.

"Yeah, but I had you in a submission." Sora yelled back.

"Guys!?" Lucien said a bit louder.

"But I never quit."

"But I had you."

"GUYS!!!!" Lucien yelled.

"WHAT????" Sora and Neji screamed at the same time.

"You were both passed out for like three minutes. You both missed the ten count and are both disqualified." Neji and Sora both looked a little embarrassed at missing that fact. "Now if you don't mind getting out of here so I can surpass you both, I would be greatful."

After the whole spectacle, Neji and Sora were both helped off the arena by their former comarade Lucien. In that time, Shikamaru made his way down to the arena floor to face his rival. After a short intermission, the two stood next to each other and stared each other down.

"You do know that this will be different then the last time?" Shikamaru said.

"Hopefully. The way Kanna kicked your ass was embarrassing." Lucien took the time to look up in the arena stands where he found Kanna and Haku hanging out. They were in a section with a couple of Kiri representitives.

"You know that girl does look very similar to the girl Ino dug up. Way too similar."

"Well, they were identical twins. What are you getting at Shikamaru?" Lucien asked.

"Just a hunch about you that's all. I do my research and I think I've got you figured out."

"You do, do you? And just what did you come up with?" Lucien wondered.

"I think you know. But knowing you, I doubt that you'll reveal anything to someone who tried to ambush you in the forest." Shikamaru added getting a nod from his opponent. "That's what I thought. Here's a little wager then. If I win, you reveal to me everything about the girl and the boy that looks like a girl. If you win, then I'll stay silent with my suspicion and never tell a soul as long as I live. Deal?"

"As if you would reveal such a story. There is no proof to the claim that you make and I doubt that anyone would believe you. That being said, you are a Nara and they have a very high rapport with the people of the village. I doubt that you would blab secrets, but fine I take your deal. Not that you'll beat me anyway."

"Oh you would be surprised." Shikamaru said. "I've gotten much stronger, but this fight isn't for Ino, it's for me. That makes this ordeal a lot less … troublesome." Shikamaru then entered his clan's fighting stance.

"As have I. If you want to try me though, I'm game." Lucien said as he entered his new fighting stance. Everyone could feel that something huge was about to happen in this upcoming fight.

….......................

Sorry, sorry I'm really late on this one. Homework and exams and all. Either way, I'm still in the business.

I applied a little bit to the backstory of Sora and Neji. Yes, you can officially mark the down as a pair now. Speaking of Neji, in the end I think I made him a bit OOC, but I have reasons. (Just be grateful that I didn't use another chapter building up this fight. :) I think I like building up fights a bit too much.

Basically, Neji won't be a main character. This is basically putting a closure on his character for part 1. He has one more planned fight, but I won't change that fight at all. I won't even write his fight with the sound ninja he fights in the retrieval arc in favor of more story and less fight. That and I don't think that anything about that fight would change in this AU.

I think that without Naruto fighting Neji, the only one that could change his character was an old friend. That was the sole purpose for Sora even in this story. I think that this will be her last appearance in part 1. Reason, Hinata needs a strong female in her life her own age, and Tenten, I don't know, I just don't see her doing what Sora would do. Just wanted to do something different. Neji/Ten is so overused as support. I wanted something different.

Tanebi's next chapter will probably be released … I'm thinking Friday.

No other notes. So thank you for reading.

Next chapter: Two in a row?

Please review.


	23. Triple Threat

Fox, Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 23: Triple Threat

Holy crap it's been a while. Basically, if you haven't read Tanebi, I'll repeat myself. I've been working extremely hard in both work and college, but now that the semester is over I can finally finish part 1 which will be 8-10 chapters. Anyway, the reviews.

Prague: Thanks. After this semester, the descriptions should be even better.

Theflamingturd: I had a good idea of where I was going with this, but I think the new path will be better and more realistic.

Joseph33795: No problem, and yes they will. I just don't think I'll go into much detail with them.

Hochiminshii:Thanks. Glad you like it.

DragonNoir: As you probably guessed from the title, I changed my mind. Don't worry, more of the mystery will be revealed.

JAJohnson: Good things come for those who wait and you waited a long time.

Karasu00: So did I. I needed to to actually see where I was going 4 months ago.

Okay, it's been a long while since I updated, but that's okay. All that matters is that I'm back and I'm grateful for everyone who's stuck with me in that time. Anyway, time to return to the show.

This chapter gets very gory at a certain part. If you can't stand it, just skip the part between the x's.

Important note. I'm not sure if I put Sasuke at the site at this point or not, but he is there right now.

…....................

Shikamaru and Lucien stood across the arena from each other and more than anxious to get the show on the road. Meanwhile, Kanna and Haku sat in the stands confident that the silver haired boy would prevail in the contest. Of course, the rest of team one shared that sentiment.

Also in the stands, one blond girl clutched onto the arm of her pudgy teammate. Ino had just been released from the mental ward of the hospital, but her fear of the silver-haired gennin still remained. The only other effect she got was a strong fear of fog, but other then that she was good as new. Perhaps she was even wiser from the experience. Both gennin were afraid for what may end up happening to Shikamaru.

"You know Hokage-sama, I just thought of a way to make this match a bit more … exciting." The Kazekage spoke in a monotonous tone behind his mask. Sarutobi turned to face him in interest, but paused to let the other leader explain his idea. "Suppose we turn this boring one on one match into a triple threat. Put the Uchiha boy in there and just let all three go at it."

"Interesting idea Kazekage-sama, but do you have any other reasoning for changing the match other then to make things more interesting?" Sarutobi rubbed his aged forehead.

"Oh but of course. You see, Sasuke Uchiha would face the winner of this match immediately after they finish. It wouldn't look good for Konoha's best shinobi to face a weakened opponent. And for the survivor of the most legendary massacre in Konoha's history to fight in the first ever first round triple threat in the history of the exams would be a fate befitting the Uchiha clan." The Kazekage continued to remain motionless and wait for the hokage's response. _Not to mention that if Sasuke-kun is added into a triple threat, he will be more tempted to tap into his gift._

"Very well Kazekage-sama. Yuri, I want you to tell Genma that the next match will be a triple threat between Shikamaru Nara, Lucien, and Sasuke Uchiha." Yuri bowed to the Hokage and ran to deliver the message to the proctor. But as she took the message, she couldn't help but feel that someone was glaring a hole right into her skull. It was a feeling that she felt numerous times in her life, but she could never quite pinpoint where it was coming from.

"Match 3 of the Chinin exam finals round one. Lucien vs Shikamaru Nara. Ready ..." Just before Genma could announce the match, Yuri appeared before him and whispered the Hokage's announcement into Genma's ear. Genma looked confused and started to speak softly into Yuri's ear which nobody in the exam could hear. Lucien and Shikamaru dropped out of their fighting stances and looked just a clueless as the rest of the spectators.

After about a minute of debate, Yuri ran away to rejoin the Hokage, while Genma got ready to make the announcement. "By order of the Hokage, this match has been changed to a triple threat match between Lucien, Shikamaru Nara, and Sasuke Uchiha. The way to win is to be the last person standing, so will Sasuke Uchiha please come down to the arena."

Genma got a mixed reaction from the crowd. Most of the ninja clans cheered. They felt that this would be the best way to showcase Konoha's best talent and give Sasuke an excuse to use if he lost. The gamblers in the audience booed. They knew that like racing, the more competitors you have, the higher the chances of something strange happening. While Sasuke looked like a lock to win his first match and bully everyone in the tournament, those odds weren't as good. The rest of the audience was simply perplexed.

On the battlefield, both Shikamaru and Lucien were forced to rethink their strategy. They were not expecting Sasuke to be in the equation. Meanwhile, Sasuke smirked. He would be glad to show both adversaries how strong hatred and revenge could be. He took his sweet time walking down to the arena below.

"Hey Lucien, what do you say we team up and take out Sasuke? Then we can settle everything one-on-one when Sasuke is gone." Shikamaru spoke with his hand underneath his chin. He really didn't want to face both of them at the same time.

"No. Shikamaru you and I both know that it is against the ninja code to attempt to ally yourself with an enemy shinobi. Under the circumstances I would think that you would be a hostile force."

Shikamaru smirked. "Good answer. However the shinobi code also dictates that a ninja must do anything in his power to win a match. I doubt that either of us can take on Sasuke one-on-one. Thus it only seems natural to conspire against the strongest enemy."

"Stongest enemy or not, I'm not giving a smart guy like you a glance at my back." Lucien smirked back. "I'd much rather take my chances against you and Sasuke at the same time."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "I guess you figured me out. Man, this triple threat stuff is just too damn troublesome. I would quit, but the chance to unravel your secret almost makes up for it. Just tell me your secret and I'll bow out."

"Oh so you have a secret?" Sasuke said as he entered the arena floor. Shikamaru sighed and Lucien scowled. "Maybe you should tell me and the Hokage just what it is you've been hiding. If not, I think I can make you talk." Sasuke activated his Sharingan and pulled out a kunai.

"Sasuke don't even try. You have no idea what you're getting into so why not make yourself less troublesome and let me take him myself. Fighting the both of you is way more trouble than I want." Shikamaru yawned lazily got into a fighting position.

"For once I agree with the slacker. Oh well, I'd rather take both of you down now instead of fighting two in a row." Lucien got into a stance that no Konoha shinobi had ever seen. Lucien was squatted low to the ground and held one arm in front of him while leaving the other dangling by his sword.

Lucien, Shikamaru, and Sasuke all stood in a perfect equilateral triangle. Sasuke, with his Sharingan eyes blazing glared with a smirk at a spot in between Lucien and Shikamaru. Lucien's fingertips played with the handle on his sword while his head kept looking between Shikamaru and Sasuke. Shikamaru stayed in his fighting stance, but instead of trying to play mind games like the other two were, he was trying to strategise. He knew that his only course of winning would be to let Lucien and Sasuke tire each other out and then he can hopefully pick up the pieces.

"Let the triple threat match begin." Genma lowered his arm to let the competitors do battle.

For a few moments, all the competitors did was move in a circular motion. No one wanted to be the one to make the first move in the contest because that would open up their back. The crowd held in a breath. The tension on the floor of the arena was extremely thick and not even the sharpest knife cut make a dent in it.

Sasuke was the one who made the first move. He charged Lucien at an incredibly high velocity. Lucien widened his eyes and swiftly evaded and spun away from Sasuke's attack. He turned his attention to the waiting Shikamaru and ran after him. Shikamaru saw the attack coming and launched out one of his shadows to try and hold the silver haired gennin in place. Lucien saw the attack coming, put his arm on the ground, and leaped away from the oncoming shadow. Shikamaru scanned the area and aimed another shadow for where the gennin was about to land. Lucien landed just before Shikamaru's shadow arrived and was forced back into retreating away. That move gave Sasuke enough time to charge after team one's tactician and attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. Lucien was caught off guard by Sasuke's onslaught and was back on the defensive.

Shikamaru wanted to take advantage of the situation and take Lucien out. He launched another flurry of shadows to try and catch the boy while his attention was focused on Sasuke. Lucien got his sword out and started to use it to repel Sasuke's attacks. While Sasuke was still much faster than Lucien, the reach of his sword and improved swordsmanship abilities were enough to get Sasuke off of him for a few moments. In that time, Shikamaru's shadows arrived and Lucien was forced to dance around them with the agility of a cat. He proceeded to take out some kunai and throw them at Shikamaru to throw him off balance.

Sasuke took the moment of diversion to attack Lucien again. This time however he was ready and had his sword meet Sasuke's kunai. The two were locked both in a struggle for position with neither fighter giving an inch.

"How fair is this?" Kanna yelled from her position in the stands. "It's a complete double team on Lucien-kun. How is he supposed to win under these conditions?"

"It's simple. Right now he is the main threat. If Lucien can somehow turn the tables on one of them, the other will sense the weakness and try to take him out. That's how you win a triple threat." Haku explained calmly.

Kanna looked confused and put her fist underneath her chin. "How did you figure that out Haku? We were from the same village but I never heard of anything like that."

"As rogue ninja, being forced into a triple threat situation was common. It's a trick Zabuza-sama often used. It was how he lived for so long until ... " Haku trailed off and averted his eyes from the other Kiri ninja. Kanna also looked down as it was easy to see that even mentioning Zabuza's name could bring up the pain and loss Haku felt.

Lucien and Sasuke still struggled in an effort to show dominance. Lucien kicked Sasuke in the stomach took to the offensive. He ran forward and began to launch a load of sword slashes and well executed kicks. Meanwhile, Shikamaru tried to get an advantage and trap Sasuke in his shadow. Sasuke, with his Sharingan, saw the shadow coming as well as a glance at what the other gennin was doing, and was able to create some distance.

All three contestants were breathing hard, but of the three of them, Shikamaru was the only one of them without a blemish. Lucien was by far the worst off as bruises covered his arms and scratches outlines his face. Sasuke had minimal amount of physical damage, but it came at the cost of using a lot of chakra.

Sasuke knew now that he needed a change in strategy. If he got on the defensive end again, he could easily get trapped even worse. He knew that if Shikamaru went down, Sasuke would have no trouble in taking out the other gennin. Lucien too was seeing how bothersome Shikamaru was. Shikamaru was a long distance fighter and masterful strategist. If the current plan went on for too much longer, there was no way he would be able to withstand the assault. Shikamaru needed to be put out of this match. Both the silver haired and the onyx eyed gennin turned their eyes to the lazy Nara.

Both of the gennin charged after Shikamaru, and he could only throw shadows at the other two gennin in an attempt to trap one of them and that would cause the other shinobi to finish him off. Shikamaru also knew that he could outsmart both of the gennin individually, but it would be difficult to trap either one when they were about to double team him.

Sasuke, being the faster shinobi arrived at Shikamaru first and started to attack him. When he dodged, Lucien was right there on the offensive. Lucien tried to pursue Shikamaru further when he realized that he couldn't. Shikamaru landed a shadow attack on Lucien. He had no idea how Shikamaru did it though, when he realized that Shikamaru dodged into the shade of the tree on the arena. Using the shade and accurately guessing where Lucien would attack from, he could hide the shadow in the sunlight provided by the branches and trap him.

Sasuke knew that he was now in the drivers seat. He knew that anything that happened to the person trapped in the shadow gets transferred over to the shadow possessor. If he could land a hard blow on Lucien, Shikamaru would also fall and Sasuke would win the match easily. He ran over to Lucien kunai in hand and wanted to drive it into Lucien's chest. Shikamaru widened his eyes knowing what Sasuke's intent was, but decided that he would just hold the shinobi in place and release the shadow at the closest possible moment.

Lucien had to think very quickly. If he stayed in this position for too much longer, he would lose and all of his, Kanna's and Haku's secrets would be revealed. If that should happen than all three of them would be in danger. Focusing all the energy he had into his left arm, he began to move his arm. Shikamaru was stunned. He thought that it was impossible for a shinobi, much less a gennin, to even move under the power of the shadow possession jutsu.

Lucien's face started to turn crimson as he willed his left arm to his ninja pouch. Meanwhile, Sasuke continued his charge to run Lucien through with his drawn kunai. Shikamaru could start to feel the control he had over the other shinobi start to slip away. He increased the amount of chakra into his shadow to try and completely restrain Lucien, but he continued to will his left arm towards his pouch.

Only moments before Sasuke struck with his kunai, Lucien's arm grazed the side of his pouch and a small tag fell to the ground. Sasuke had no idea what kind of tag it was, so he stopped his charge and pulled back. The next thing he saw was Shikamaru pull his shadow back for fear of an explosion taking the both of them out. The tag continued to drift slowly to the ground as the detonation was about up. Since he was free of Shikamaru's hold, Lucien closed his eyes tightly and crossed his arms in front of them. After seeing that, Sasuke and Shikamaru knew what kind of tag Lucien dropped but it was too late for either of them to do anything about it. The tag hit the ground and exploded causing a bright white light to envelope the arena floor.

The entire attendance of the stadium was momentarily blinded from the light caused by the explosive tag. Even members of the Hyuuga clan who were famous for their eyesight couldn't see what was happening on the arena floor. The explosion even left the Hokage and Kazekage powerless.

People started to get their eyesight back after about a minute. In the meantime, they all wondered what had happened. They didn't know who had the upper hand or if anyone had been taken out. Naruto and Ayame finally got their eyesight back and saw a favorable result. Lucien was behind Shikamaru with a kunai on his neck. Sasuke was on the ground holding his eyes in pain.

"Very resourceful." Sarutobi rubbed his eyes to still get the spots out. "He knew he was facing a Nara and hid a flash tag in his supplies with easy access to it. And in the process, he may have taken out Sasuke's Sharingan."

"Yes, it was a brilliant move. However, one may also argue if he has anything left for the Uchiha. It takes a lot of energy to even move an inch from the shadow possession." The Kazekage added while rubbing the area that appeared to be his chin.

Shikamaru squirmed and did everything he could to escape the grasp of the other gennin. The main problem was that Lucien was both taller and physically stronger then the shadow manipulator. After a bit of struggle, Shikamaru realized that it was checkmate. "I should have known that one with as much chakra as you would be able to escape given your bloodline."

Lucien opened his eyes wide at what Shikamaru was getting at. Even though he thought that Shikamaru suspected something, now Lucien knew that Shikamaru had uncovered his secret.

"High chakra, mysterious abilities, and the famed ability to raise the dead. Your performance in this phase of the exam proves to me that you are a Valkyrie, or is Valient a better term?" Shikamaru spoke softly and kept turning his head slowly so his lips couldn't be read by any of the spectators. The Nara spoke just loudly enough that only Lucien and Shikamaru could understand the words.

"And what do you plan on doing with this information?" Lucien lowered his eyebrows and glared at the space in front of Shikamaru while bringing the blade of his kunai closer to the Nara's neck. "I'm in a position to kill you right now you know, and while I would hate that as much as what Ino did, I would have to do it to protect myself, Haku, and Kanna."

"Nah, blackmail is just too troublesome. So is telling a huge secret, and dying I think is more trouble then the others. I just wanted to confirm what I suspected, and now that I've done just that, I think I'll take my leave." Shikamaru stopped whispering to the other boy and spoke loud enough for the audience to hear. "I quit."

The crowd roared when they heard the Nara gennin bow out. As of now, most of the action had been between Lucien and Sasuke. They figured that without the Nara involved in the fight, these two would give the fans a fight for the ages. Ino breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she wondered if Lucien would kill Shikamaru.

Shikamaru left the arena looking neither glum nor angry. He looked content for a reason that nobody in the audience could explain. By this time, Sasuke had gotten up and his eyes no longer possessed the Sharingan.

"Well look what we have Lucien." Sasuke spoke with a confident smirk on his face and a gleam in his black eyes. "You are nearly out of chakra and that blast hurt my eyes to the point that I can't use the Sharingan for about an hour. But still, my hatred and thirst for revenge will overcome the loss of my eyes and lead me to victory over you."

"Hatred? Thirst for revenge? These give you power? If that's the case than this fight is as good as over. You can't beat me with those thoughts plaguing your mind." Lucien reached back for his sword and drew it again. Sasuke just laughed.

"Oh please, don't tell me that your thoughts are above mine. You are nothing more than a hypocrite. Just look at what you did to Ino. You can't tell me that you're somehow above revenge. And my hatred has left me the most powerful gennin in the history of this village. Don't you see? Hatred is the birth of power."

"You're wrong. A close friend of mine defeated a ninja who surpassed him in strength, speed, chakra, and experience, yet he defeated him. He won with the power to protect, the power to save, and the time I've spent with Kanna and Haku have only strengthened that feeling. So for Naruto and all of this village to see, I'll take you down." Lucien got back into his battle stance ready to resume battle.

Sasuke laughed even harder after the speech. "Oh that's rich. Spoken like a true fool. You learned your lessons from some tapeworm at the middle of the class? A gelatinous parasite with no clan and no struggle to speak of? And me, the best ninja in the village is wrong? I see much more clearly now than ever that my way is truly the path needed to get the power I want and need, and I'll show you that right now. Well look at the time. I think it's time for my Sharingan to come back" Sasuke activated his bloodline, readied a kunai, and both shinobi rushed towards each other.

The Kazekage couldn't hear a word of what the two gennin were saying, but he had one of his followers on the bottom tier of the arena fill him in. The words Sasuke spoke were the exact words he wanted Sasuke to speak, and it would only be a bit more of a push before he would rely on the power of the cursed seal. He knew that all the plans were ready, but he would gladly push them back to let Sasuke tap into the forbidden power. _What they don't realize is that the cursed seal only unlocks their true character. This character of Sasuke's is very easy to manipulate. It won't take much longer for Sasuke to ripen._

Blade and kunai met as the two shinobi clashed. Sasuke, being the less drained of the two took the advantage and began to push the silver haired shinobi backwards.Lucien broke the lock and jumped backwards. Sasuke however didn't want to give the other gennin even a second to recover. He went through several hand seals and blew a large fireball at the other gennin.

Lucien saw the fireball coming and jumped off to the side. As he landed though, Sasuke went through the seals again and fired another shot, which Lucien again was barely able to get away from. Sasuke went through even more seals and produced multiple fireballs through his phoenix flower. It took all of Lucien's agility and speed to get through the fire without so much as a single burn on his skin.

After he landed from the last part of the inferno, Sasuke again took up the charge. Striking with both precision and speed, Sasuke was easily able to get Lucien on the defensive. The silver haired gennin used every ounce of his newfound agility and catlike reflexes to escape the one blow that would put Sasuke on top for the battle.

_This is bad. Sasuke's relentless and with those damned eyes of his, I can't mount any sort of counter attack. There has to be something in the terrain that I can use to my advantage._ Lucien looked around as much as he could while avoiding the onslaught of the Uchiha. Suddenly, he spotted something that he could possibly use.

Lucien continued backpedaling and getting out of unbelievably tight scenarios. More than once, Sasuke nearly had Lucien pinned down and beaten, but every time, Lucien found some way to slither away. The crowd roared each time Sasuke nearly had Lucien down for the count, and roared even louder with every escape. At this point, Sasuke had chased Lucien all around the arena and back to where the conflict began, when the tables were turned on the Uchiha genius.

Lucien leaped into the tree and Sasuke followed. Lucien landed on the branch, but immediately jumped off it and right towards Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened and got ready for the attack. Lucien's longer and faster moving blade met Sasuke's kunai and Sasuke's kunai snapped. The point of the kunai broke off the body and went straight for Sasuke, but more specifically Sasuke's left eye. There was nothing Sasuke could do to prevent the kunai from piercing his eye.

Xxxxx

As opposed to a few moments ago, the crowd was speechless. Sasuke, their prized ninja and last of his clan possibly lose an eye. Ino put her hands in front of her agape mouth. For her, the only person who could save her from fear itself lost more than the match. Even Naruto, Ayame, Kanna, and Haku who were the loudest in the crowd for the opposition had absolutely nothing to say. Many of the heads of the audience turned away from the gore on the arena, and many of the young girls there wept at the pain their idol was going through.

Lucien landed on the ground and was almost frightened at what he saw. In the exchange, he never saw the kunai break and go into Sasuke's eye. But he did see Sasuke rolling around on the ground trying as hard as he could to try and stop the blood from spilling onto the ground. He failed and his hands were covered in his crimson liquid. Sasuke removed his hands and there was nothing but blood traveling down his face and all over his clothing and body. Lucien saw the damage and just backed up slowly with his face clouded in horror.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Even in the Hokage's booth, both of the village leaders were stunned. Sarutobi would be lying though to say he wasn't slightly relieved. Sasuke's injury to his eye meant that he could be placed under heavy physical and mental watch. From the reports he got from Kakashi, Sarutobi knew that Sasuke needed some heavy therapy.

Meanwhile the Kazekage was livid. Sasuke was the half the prize that the Kazekage had put many years worth of time and energy into and now Sasuke was nothing but a damaged prize. He had no idea how deep the damage to his eye was, but right now all he wanted was for someone to pay. He gave the signal for the attack to begin before setting his evil gaze on the scared gennin backing away from Sasuke.

"You will pay for this."

…......................

This chapter was pretty much an experiment. I've never read a story that did a true triple threat situation before. I've seen double and triple teams before, but not a triple threat. Also, I have been away from this story for so long, I have no idea how well this chapter meshes with the rest of the story I've created.

The next few chapters will cover the invasion, but most specifically the Naruto/Gaara fight and the Ayame/Temari fight. I won't go into the Hokage/ Orochimaru fight at all. That will just be cannon.

By the way, I've decided to give Sasuke an attitude similar to that of Chris Jericho. I think with a little tweaking the two could be very similar.

Shikamaru mentioned the term Valient. Think of Valient as a male Valkyrie.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter: Invasion

Please review.


	24. Sound Attack

Fox Waitress and Valkyrie

Chapter 24 The attack

Wow guys it's been a while eh? I was supposed to update a couple months ago but things started to get hectic and … eh I don't want to bore you with that. I bet you guys just want to see the next part of the story right? Thought so. It's been so long that I don't think I'll answer your reviews for this chapter only. However, I'll start doing that again starting with this chapter but I won't use story space to do it. I'll probably just send you a response privately. That way it will make things a bit more personal.

Alright enough of my yapping, it's time to business.

….........

Narrator felt dizzy. His legs felt as if he had just run from Konrad back over to Wave and he felt like he could drop any moment. It didn't take him long to realize that he had been in a genjutsu. His mother and teammates put him in enough genjutsu's for him to realize that and quickly he attempted to break free. Breaking free of a genjutsu was once one of his weakest points due to his poor control, but the exercises with his team as well as his training with the Rasengan enabled him to get free of the oppressive genjutsu that now en-clouded the stadium.

Naruto looked next to him to see his girlfriend also free of the genjutsu, but was panting heavily. It was clear to him that Ayame had not yet recovered from her physical confrontation with Hinata. From that teammate, he turned to his other teammate Lucien. Lucien had also broken free of his genjutsu and surrounding him were Haku and Kanna. Though he was not as shocked as he was when he first broke Sasuke's eye in the match, Lucien was still shaken. For him it was one thing to kill an enemy, but it was not good to seriously harm a friend even if the whole thing was an accident.

"Ayame-chan, what's going on?"

"I wish I knew. But I think it's safe to say that we are under attack. By who I don't know."

Almost after the breath of the last words left her lips, Naruto and Ayame were flanked by a group of Sound ninjas, each of them with masks covering their faces. Just as Naruto and Ayame got ready to take them all down, one of them turned around and attacked the other ninjas and killed them all in seconds. Naruto was stunned. He had not expected to see the ninjas attack each other and the entire thing seemed impossible unless …

"Kaa-san?" Naruto figured that the only two who could fool an entire battalion of Sound ninjas was a person who could remain undetected in the thickest of enemy territories for a long time. That woman was his mother Kushina.

"Listen carefully you two, and keep all questions until the end." Kushina's voice was deathly serious. Only in matters of life and death did Kushina sound as serious as she did now and Naruto and Ayame knew that she was not going to repeat herself. "It's an attack by both Sound and Sand orchestrated by Orochimaru. Apparently that snake has slithered under our tail for quite some time now."

Kushina looked up to the Hokage's box and Naruto could see Sarutobi inside some barrier with a tall, pale looking man. Surrounding the barrier were four guards, one of whom Naruto could recognize as the redhead he stumbled upon in his training. Naruto could see his mother looking straight at the girl seemingly not even paying attention to what was going on between the other two. It was like she was in a trance, her gaze only on the intense face of the girl.

"Kaa-san!" Naruto yelled hoping to redirect his mother's attention, and her head snapped back around to the two gennin.

"Sorry, anyway Naruto, we can foil their plan. Both of you can. You see, their entire plan revolves around that boy Gaara. Like you, he's a jinchuriki."

Naruto should have been shocked and in awe, but in reality he wasn't. He had a feeling that inside that boy was a curse similar to his own. The wild feel of untamed power that surrounded the redhead from Suna was similar to that of the Kyuubi that Naruto contained inside him.

"If we can distract him away from the village and eliminate the destruction that releasing his beast can do to the village, we can use our forces to take out the enemy."

"Kaa-san, if you knew this, why didn't you tell the Hokage?"

"I don't abandon my children." Kushina then looked away as she mumbled something and again turned her face to gaze into the brown eyes of the red haired kunoichi generating Orochimaru's barrier. "Now, as an ANBU commander Naruto, I give you full authority to try to get Gaara outside this village. Get your teammates and go."

"But Kaa-san," Naruto tried to plead.

"GO!" Kushina yelled before switching forms to look like Mirage again before racing off towards the barrier, cutting down any unfortunate enemy who got in her path.

Naruto and Ayame ran down towards the floor of the arena where Lucien catching his breath while Kanna and Haku took defensive positions around him. They got attacked by a couple of attackers but they were not prepared for Haku's storm of senbon. Kanna stayed mush closer to him but was still combat ready. After a few moments, Naruto and Ayame reached their destination. They wasted no time on exchanging pointless greetings with each other and Naruto filled the other three in.

"I see, they want to take us out in one fell swoop and they want that sand ninja to do it," Haku pointed up to the contestant box right at Gaara who had not taken his eery gaze off of Naruto.

"I'll fight him," Naruto said. He stepped in front of the group and looked Gaara in the eyes. "Hey if you want me, I'll be in the forest. Come get me!"

Upon saying that, Naruto bolted from the arena and off towards the forest behind him. Ayame and Kanna tried to run after him, but they were restrained by Lucien and Haku.

"He knows what he's doing," Haku said.

"But ..."

"Ayame, I think Naruto knows that Gaara only wants to fight Naruto. If Gaara levels the whole village but doesn't get Naruto his struggle will be in vain. By fleeing the village, Naruto is going do drag the boy away from the village as well and that is what sensei asked for correct?"

"But Naruto can't fight that monster. He may die." Ayame was on the verge of tears.

"He won't die, but still, this fight Naruto is going to fight is going to be his and what we need to do is help that fight to drag out as long as possible to give us the chance to counter." Haku explained. I think if anything, we need to stop any pursuers such as his teammates." With that said, the group left to pursue Naruto.

Gaara looked at Naruto's retreating back. All feelings, and everything they prepared for meant nothing. All Gaara could see was Naruto's smiling face feelings of hope. It pleased him that soon he knew that he would be able to crush that fate and his dreams. Maybe if he won this battle, the chaos would be stopped from the beast inside Gaara

"Forget about him Gaara, let's get on with the plan," Temari said as she grabbed the fan from off her back.

"Shut up and don't get in my way. I care nothing of your plans and schemes. All I want what mother wants. She wants his blood and I will gladly feed it to her. Pursue me if you want, but know this Temari and Kankouro. Get in my way, and I will kill you." Gaara left that spot, giving chase to Naruto and his group. He didn't care about anybody else. If anyone got in his way, they would merely be an appetizer for his mother.

Temari didn't care either for the plan. She was against it from the start and had no problem differing from it. Her bigger worry was her little brother. Gaara always scared her, but even so, she loved him. She hated to see what her father had turned him into and only wanted him to know inner peace. She had to go after him. She feared that if Gaara kept going down this road, the beast inside him may be released in a way that would be impossible for him to come back to. She wanted to avoid that at all costs, even if it cost her life. Temari left quickly afterword, and Konkouro left quickly behind her.

Behind them, the black haired Uchiha grabbed his eye in pain with one hand and pointed at the air where Lucien once stood. The mark on the back of his neck began to spin as its power began to take a foothold in his body.

"My dreams, my ambitions, my destiny were all ruined by you. I won't let you get away from me. From Hell's hot, I stab at you. Lucien, as an avenger who's destiny is stopped, I will hereby end your life and fulfill my duty as an avenger. This time though, I avenge myself." Sasuke reached into his pack and ate a blood pill before beginning to chase Naruto.

Lucien led the pack as they began their pursuit of their comrade. They had been hot on his trail for only a few minutes before they felt the presence of Gaara behind them. Kanna was the first to turn around and the entire group now faced Gaara.

"Go ahead," Lucien said motioning to the area behind him. "It's Naruto you want go get him. We won't get in your way." Ayame stood horrified. The blank expression on the face of the Suna boy sent chills down her spine. The aura of power that the boy leaked out took all the breath out of her lungs and nearly crushed her under its presence. Not since Zabuza had she felt the pure terror that came with fighting a ninja like this. And now, Lucien was going to fearlessly let him through to her boyfriend?

Gaara stared blankly at the silver haired shinobi. He wanted to gauge what the shinobi was thinking, but at the same time he really didn't care. He only wanted Naruto and not these four. Anyone else would just be a horrible waste of his time.

"Get in my way and I will kill you," Gaara said before running past the group on the trees.

Lucien let out a sigh of relief. He had not expected that to go so well but at least they had avoided conflict. He never liked the idea of starting a fight that he couldn't win and he knew that this fight was only one that Naruto could win.

Looking around, Lucien could tell that Ayame was not happy with his stance on the matter. She already had her bow strung from her match with Hinata and was now fiddling with the feathers on her arrows. More frightening though was the pupiless gaze she gave her shinobi friend.

"I had to do it Ayame. I think you know as well as I do that we can't beat him. Only Naruto can and I don't think he wants any of us to die. Letting him through free at Naruto was the only way we could be certain that he can win."

"I know why you did it," Ayame said, anger present in her voice. "I just don't like it, and I don't want your actions to be the reason that ..."

"I agree with Lucien," Haku said. "That boy would kill all of us. Even I couldn't beat beat him like this, but Naruto can. But if he's worried about any of us than he won't be able to fight at his full strength. That's why I propose we divide and conquer."

"So, you can detect them Haku?" Kanna asked.

"Detect them? Who?" Ayame asked.

"That boy's teammates. The blond and the guy Naruto beat in the prelims. Plus I can also detect about nine Sound shinobi and one other Konoha ninja on the way. We must not allow a single one of them to get to Naruto or else he will suspect that one of us is hurt or dead." Haku said.

"Haku, we _are_ dead remember?" Kanna giggled.

"Anyway here's what I want," Lucien said. "Kanna-chan, you and Haku take on that boy's teammates. Divide them up and take them on by yourselves. I trust you can do that. Ayame, can you take out nine enemies at once?"

"Don't worry about me. I learned a nifty little trick in my training outside of what Kushina-sensei taught me. They certainly don't know about it, so I should be able to surprise them with it. The only thing that concerns me is my chakra level, but I have a food pill which I'll take before I execute the jutsu."

"Good, Kanna-chan, Haku, when you win, get back here on the double. Ayame, after you succeed, find Naruto, he'll need you to cheer him on for this one."

"And what will you do?" Ayame asked.

"Me? I have unfinished business." Lucien looked out into the distance as he sensed an intense amount of hatred directed right at him. He knew where it was coming from, but that didn't mean that he liked it.

Ayame, Haku, and Kanna all took their cues and went their own separate ways after the team meeting. They all knew that they had important tasks that they all needed to accomplish if Konoha would be successful in this battle.

…..

Temari and Kankouro ran as fast as they could through the forest. Both of them were worried about the health of their younger brother and had a sense of anxiety about what was going to happen.

"I can't believe this. If Gaara had only stuck to the plan, we wouldn't be stuck in this mess. Plus if we interfere he may actually kill us this time. The things we do for him ..." Konkouro trailed off at the end.

"Shut up Konkouro. Let's not forget that he's like this because of our father. Gaara himself has done nothing wrong and you know it. I don't care if Gaara kills us or not, because he is my brother and I love him."

"Hey I'm not disagreeing with you or anything. But still this puts a major flaw in our plan. The plan needs Shukaku in order to be a success and if Shukaku gets released out here uncontrolled than our battle against Konoha will not turn out well. Still though, I just hope that we can get to those guys before Shukaku gets out. If we do that than we may survive this battle ..."

Konkouro got interrupted when a figure launched over a dozen senbon at him. Temari pulled out her fan and sent a gust of wind down that stopped all the senbon in their tracks, but when she turned around, a green-haired girl that she had never seen before came out of nowhere and kicked her in the stomach, off the tree and into the trunk of another one about a hundred yards away.

Konkouro turned around to face the girl and pulled the chakra strings to release his puppets when another volley of senbon came after him. Summoning up his puppets, Konkouro blocked the needles and turned his attention away from the green-haired girl who ran after Temari. After a few seconds, another volley came after him, but again he was able to get his puppets in front of the attack.

"You won't beat me with these cheap tricks! Get out here now or I'll kill you!" Konkouro shouted into the vast forest.

"My intention was not to defeat you, but rather to take your attention away from Kanna." Konkouro heard in the forest. He looked around and saw a young boy wearing a Mist headband. "I'm sorry but I cannot allow you to close in on their fight. If I do so it could be disastrous."

"Boy you have no idea what you're talking about. If we don't get over there, it will get disastrous. You have no idea what Gaara can do, and when he gets unleashed nobody can stop him."

"And if you succeed, what will you do? Will you force him back to Konoha to lead him into merciless destruction?"

Konkouro gripped his strings tighter. This gennin was starting to tick him off. "Shut up! I'm doing what's best for my village and my brother. I won't let you get in my way either."

Konkouro swung his arm sending his puppet after the shinobi on the ground. The shinobi elegantly dodged the poisonous attacks from his puppet and threw another volley of senbon. As they came closer, Konkouro summoned another puppet to block the needles. This battle would not be so easy as Konkouro had thought it to be.

On the other edge of the forest, Temari got herself off the tree and looked around. She spotted the girl who attacked her leap off of a branch and onto the floor of the forest looking Temari in the eyes.

"You, get out of my way." Temari said as she grabbed her fan.

"No, Lucien-kun asked me to do this and I will not let him down."

"Oh and so your entire kunoichi career is dependent on a boy? I am trying to save my baby brother and you want to fight because some guy you like tells you to?" Temari was already fed up with this pathetic girl. She was clearly wasting her time and stopping her from preventing a disaster.

"It's not that. I would stop you whether or not he wants me to. However, Naruto is going to save this village and I will not allow anyone to get involved," the green-haired girl said.

"Girlie, you have no idea who that kid is fighting. My brother has evil incarnate put inside him by my father. If I don't get in there and stop it then he will go out of control and kill all of us."

"But you don't mind him going out of control in the middle of the city? You don't mind him killing innocent people, but you do mind him killing Naruto?"

"You stupid girl! You don't get it! In the attack plan, we had a back up and fail safe in case Gaara went out of control. Out here, he doesn't have that and if he goes beyond a certain point, he will never be brought back. He'll kill us all for sure and his humanity will be gone, and if I can get to him by tossing your green-haired ass aside then so be it!" Temari grabbed her fan and prepared for her attack.

"And you don't seem to understand that Naruto won't let that happen. Even if things go as you say then Naruto will stop him. Either way, I won't let you interfere in Naruto's battle." The other kunoichi got into her fighting stance and rushed towards Temari.

….........

Lucien stayed in the clearing where they parted, keeping his eyes on the action going on between Kanna, Haku, Temari, and Konkouro. He hoped those two would be alright, but even if they fell he wasn't worried. He knew that when the body of an einhajier was destroyed, the souls would simply return to the host but it would lose all the chakra it had gathered. It would be a pain to bring them back again, but nothing he couldn't handle. Furthermore, he knew that Haku and Kanna were certainly strong enough to deal with their opponents. He didn't turn around, not even when he felt a familiar chakra behind him.

"So you've come Sasuke."

Sasuke growled and covered up his damaged eye. It pained him even though he ate that blood pill before coming. He managed to put enough gauze and tape over his eye so the bleeding had somewhat been contained. Sasuke just activated his Sharingan and attacked Lucien's back. Lucien dodged to the left and kicked the kunai out of his hands.

"And why do you attack me? Our village is being attacked and all you care about is settling the score with me? Have you no honor?"

Sasuke simply laughed at the proposal. "I am an Uchiha, the last of my clan. All I live for is to avenge the deaths of my clan that my brother accomplished. My life, my dreams, my ambitions, all of them were destroyed by you. Without my Sharingan, I can't accomplish my mission and the one thing I swore on my parent's graves that I would do. I care not of Konoha. They were just a means of acquiring the power I need. Now, I have that power, but no the body. I may not be able to avenge my clan, but by killing you I will avenge myself."

"Revenge? Such a fool."

"No you are a fool and you don't get it. My brother stole everything from me and the only way I could get on with my life is to steal everything of his. I plan on stealing what he most values, his life. But you, you stole it from me and I will KILL YOU!!!" Sasuke all of a sudden got covered in black marks that appeared throughout his body.

Lucien could sense it. The power that came over Sasuke was the most insanely powerful thing he had ever experienced. But even more than that, the chakra appearing over Sasuke was so concentrated and dark, that Lucien could sense evil all over Sasuke's body. He shivered in the wake of such a horrible power.

"So you feel my power? You tremble at the presence of such awesome power. I will enjoy your death."

"No, this power is so evil and dark. How could you succumb to such evil Sasuke?"

"I already told you. I am an avenger. I don't care where I get my power from so long as I can avenge those who have taken everything from me. And you have stolen my only tool of revenge, so I will gladly accept this power regardless if Orochimaru gave it to me or not. Prepare yourself Lucien, because you won't live to see tomorrow."

…....................

I think that is a good stopping point.

Right now begins a long string of battles and I don't know which one to start with. Ayame's will be the quickest, and the other three will be going on at the same time. I don't know what I'll do next chapter but I promise you, it will be good.

Some of the dialogue was rough. I apologize for that because I have neglected this story for SO long that I still need to get in the hang of this.

Tanebi fans, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.

Anyway, thanks for reading F, W, V

Next Chapter: A trio of battles.

Please Review.


	25. A Trio of Battles

Fox Waitress, and Valkyrie

Chapter 25: A trio of battles

I'mmmmmmmmmmmmm Baaaaaaacccccckkkkkkkkkkkk

But seriously it's been WAY too long since I've updated this story. In all actuality, this story is nearing the stages of completion. After these recent string of fights, all I have left is the closer.

By that estimation there are about 6 chapters left. At this point however, there's not much actual story and plot left to write which is mainly why I've let this sit on the burner for so long.

I swear to you though that I will see this story through to completion.

Again, though sorry. I've let this story settle for far too long and I need to get this thing finished.

Alright enough of this gooey shhhhh show of emotions (name that reference)

Let's go!

…..

Kanna stared at the Suna kunoichi sitting on the perch, quickly going over her plan of attack. She knew that this girl used the wind as a weapon, but the only way she could attack would be a swing of that very heavy fan, so her attacks wouldn't be very fast.

Kanna smirked. "I told you I'm not letting you through."

Temari just smirked and reached for her giant fan. She quickly opened it and swung it at a quick speed causing a small tornado to form and attack the ground where Kanna stood. Kanna shook her head and quickly ran behind one of the trees.

She then put her hands together in a cross and summoned a few bunshins. She didn't need anything sophisticated or complex. Kanna sent them out in all directions, mixing herself in with the group.

"Is that your master plan?" Temari scoffed. "I'll give you credit I suppose for distributing yourself among the rabble, but my attack won't be easily negated!" Temari swung her giant fan in a burst right for where the real Kanna was. She backflipped away and skid across the ground. When the attack hit the ground, just missing her, it created a giant cloud of dust that covered the forest.

Temari didn't need to shield her eyes. Having lived in the desert her whole life, a small dustcloud like this was nothing, but it still caused her an annoyance. She lost Kanna.

She stayed alert in watching the clones around her disappear, taking with them any tail of chakra leading her to the girl. She closed her eyes, trying to sense any sound or movement from the other girl, but nothing came. Temari wasn't surprised. One thing she knew about Kiri shinobi was that they were among the best at stealth and sneaking up on an opponent.

Eyes widening, she leaned to the left, just as a fist cam flying through the dust cloud. Temari leaped off her branch, with Kanna in tow. Jumping backwards, Temari brought her fan up to block another punch, and she used her other arm to block an incoming kick. Temari landed on the ground, but the green haired girl was right behind her.

Kanna tried to flank Temari, but she kept the girl in front of her at all times. The girl was good and much more clevar than she let on, but Temari was a borderline genius.

Kanna went for a trip but Temari blocked it with her fan. Kanna smirked as she twisted her body in an unreal way and landed a kick in Temari's ribcage. Temari grimaced and Kanna took advantage again pressing the attack. She attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks either getting blocked or parried. Finally, Temari threw her fan forward, just missing Kanna. The fan continued to fly until it hit a few trees behind her. Seeing a relent in the other girl's attacks, Temari jumped backwards.

"This fight is over. You can't keep up with me! You may be much more powerful than me, but it doesn't matter if you can't hit me."

Temari spat, red mixing in with her saliva. "Don't underestimate me bitch. You see, I have another weapon." Kanna widened her eyes as Temari reached in her gear and brought out two smaller fans, wielding one in each hand. "I'll admit, your speed is impressive. Almost as impressive as that slut who beat me in the tournament. You took my weakness and created a favorable match up. So, I'll take advantage now."

Temari swung her small fan in her left hand and immidiately Kanna doubled over. A small, but powerful gust of air hit her in the stomach. Kanna got up to try and attack again, but another swing of the fan hit her in the knee and she collapsed on the ground.

"It's pointless. You see, I prefer the giant one because it doubles as both an offensive and defensive weapon."

Kanna looked up at her. _I see, she gave up all her defense to only focus on attacking me. It must take more control, but if I can get close to her I can maybe win this. These air blows are precise, but weak. If I had more girth, I doubt they'd effect me much if at all. This is bad. My style is build around a small build able to contort myself and attack enemies where they can't see it coming, but her air bullets are so much faster. Lucien, how would you handle this? I can't give up. Somehow, I will win this_

…

Kankouro glared at the shinobi looking at him from the trees. Meanwhile, Haku took this time to size up his opponent.

_As a puppet master, he will both for attack and defense. The one he used earlier is his offense. I'm guessing that every needle and trap in that thing is poisonous. I doubt that other one has much in favor of offense at a distance, but if I get close it's certain to take me out. With my setup of jutsu and senbon, this is an unfavorable matchup._

Haku ran around the trees trying to get a clear shot at the Suna ninja, but every angle was watched and guarded. Jumping across the air, Haku thought he had a shot, but he had to decline it when the other puppet followed his every action. It shot 6 senbon laced with poison but Haku deflected them with the same amount of needles.

Landing on the ground, Haku widened his eyes when a giant mace sprouted from the puppet's mouth. Haku jumped backwards as the mace hit the ground, but recoiled back in Haku's direction. Haku danced backwards until his back hit a tree. As soon as he hit the tree, he placed an explosive tag on the tree and quickly danced to the side. The wrecking ball hit the explosive tag, it detonated causing the entire area to be a sea of bright white.

Kankouro used his puppet to shield his eyes from the blast, so his vision wasn't blurred. He scanned the area looking for the Kiri shinobi, but he couldn't find him anywhere. Looking around, he tried to look for any sign that the ninja was there but he couldn't find one.

"Clevar. Instead of an explosive tag, he used a simple flash tag. The one moment that my eyes were shielded he vanished. It doesn't matter to me though. My defense is much too strong."

"Confident," Haku said as he attacked Kankouro's face with a senbon. Kankouro used his defense puppet to block the attack, and then it opened up its mouth and hundreds of needles came out. Calmly, Haku jumped over the attack, but the other puppet came out of nowhere to attack him back. It's claws came out and attacked him head on/

Haku looked between the puppet master in the center, the offensive puppet to the right, and the defensive puppet the the left. He couldn't isolate a target. Haku felt a faint trickle of wetness along his cheek and Kankouro laughed.

"It's over. You're cut and you know what that means?"

"Yes, at this moment, poison is going through my body. As time passes my reaction time, speed, and power will decrease and my interal organs will begin to deteriorate. You have no need for offense now as time has shifted to your side."

Kankouro scowled. Even though the battle was won for him, the calm demeanor of this guy pissed him off.

"Of course you realize now that since I'm about to die, I have nothing to lose." Haku took out several scrolls of water and splashed it everywhere. "With this water, combined with the water in all of this forest, my attacks will be far more powerful."

Kankouro had his attacking puppet rush forward to impale Haku, but he disappeared in a puddle of water.

_A water substitution, and with all the puddles around here he could be anywhere. No matter._

Kankouro pulled his puppets close to him in a defensive stance. Since he already had the advantage, he would force this guy to break him down.

"Secret jutsu, a thousand needles of death."

Kankouro looked up as a thousand ice needles appeared above him and crashed down on him. He had no chance to get away, so he used the extension of his defense puppet to create a canopy around him. Kankouro underestimated the force of the needles though. A crack began to appear on the canopy of his puppet.

The Suna shinobi located Haku, but he didn't have much time as he saw Haku finish a set of hand seals. "Water style, water bullet." Kankouro shifted his defense and again blocked the force of the jutsu. Kankouro looked around the clearing and he could begin to see the Kiri ninja begin to slow down. Haku stopped again and flew threw the hand seals of the simple jutsu to launch another water bullet. Kankouro was again able to stop the attack with his puppet, but he could feel something different. The force of the attack was significantly less than the last one.

He looked across the forest and saw the other shinobi breathing heavy. His legs shook, and he looked to be having a hard time seeing straight. Smiling, Kankouro pulled his puppets back to normal. Despite the minor damage taken to them by the water attacks, his puppets were still in good enough condition.

"Look at you! Just drop already and I can be on my way. Haku flashed through the hand seals again and fired another water bullet. This attack was far weaker, smaller, and slower than the other two shots Haku fired. Kankouro cockily moved his offensive puppet over to block the attack. After the droplets of water faded, Kankouro smiled further. Haku was breathing even harder. He dropped to one knee for a moment before standing back up in his stance. Weakly, Haku threw 3 senbon which hit the puppet and fell weakly to the ground.

"You just don't give up do you? Look, it's poison. Nobody can fight it once it's in the system. You will die and you're just embarrassing yourself."

Haku winced in pain. The trees around him began to spin and blur together, but he wouldn't give up. Hands shaking, he reached into his pack and withdrew six senbon and aimed three at each puppet. Kankouro shook his head at the foolishness of this. The shinobi was too weak to do anything so why throw senbon with not even enough force to stick. Waiting for the clink of the senbon harmlessly fall on the ground, Kankouro missed the smile on Haku's face. He raised an eyelash when he didn't hear the senbon fall. That look of confusion turned to horror when he saw the the senbon had imbedded themselves in both of his puppets.

And there were explosive tags attached to each senbon. Panicking, Kankouro flung his puppets as far away from him as possible. Looking back at Haku, his horrors furthered when he saw that Haku looked normal. "H-how? My poison?"

"You never hit me. During my flash bang, I cut my cheek with a senbon. It was a shallow cut, so shallow, that it wouldn't bleed for about thirty seconds after contact. From there, all I had to do was initiate a close call in which it looked like you hit me. After that, all I had to do was get you to do was think that I was under the effect of poison. I faked the entire thing. Now, with your puppets destroyed, it's time for me to finish this."

Haku ran towards Kankouro, but he wouldn't give up either and ran towards Haku with his fist cocked. He threw the punch, but Haku dodged it and buried senbon in both of Kankouro's arms and legs paralizing them.

The batter was finished. Kankouro couldn't move. Haku walked over to him and pulled the senbon out one by one. The other shinobi didn't feel a thing. "I only hit the pressure points, leaving you there in that state for about an hour. After that, you're free to leave."

"Why?"

"You don't deserve to die. While you are looking out for your village, you're also looking out for your brother. My job was to make sure you didn't get involved."

"But … if I can't get him out ..."

"That's our job. Naruto will handle this."

"You don't get it. He can't beat Gaara. Nobody can. Not with that ..."

"We know all about it and have taken preparations. Naruto won't lose. Trust me."

Haku turned away from Kankouro and looked in the distance to where Sasuke confronted Lucien. "Such evil chakra. I must help him." With that he took off, leaving the Suna ninja to think about everything. Eventually a fly came and landed on Kankouro's nose, itching it, but Kankouro couldn't do anything about it for an hour.

"Not cool."

…

A strong gust of wind forced Kanna back again. Her back hit against the tree hard and she had a tough time regaining her sense of direction. So far, every attempt to get close to the sand kunoichi proved to be pointless. She had to think of something or else she'd die for good.

Temari swiped her fan again. Kanna, realizing the danger jumped and hid around the tree that she fell back against. It was a desperate dodge, but she got away. She heard the wind hit the tree, but outside of that she didn't see or hear much splintering of the tree. Looking around, she saw that the attack left hardly a print on the tree itself which meant that the attacks were getting weaker.

Panting, Kanna pulled out a small sealing scroll of water from her pack and splashed it close to her and prepared hand seals quickly. Temari took the initiative and began moving in on Kanna from the side with her fans ready. Temari moved her fans as Kanna finished the seals. "Water style, water wall." Quickly rising from around her, the water came from the ground and surrounded her. The water was clear, and she could see that the wind attack from the other girl only managed to take a few drops away from the wall.

The wall would only keep her safe for a few moments, but in the ninja world, moments were everything. Temari didn't bother attacking the wall. She knew that the effort would be completely pointless and a waste of chakra. Temari smirked, knowing that every second Kanna planed behind her wall would be devestating for her chakra reserves. It also worked in her favor that every second that she planned, would be another second for Temari to think of ways to trap her as well.

_She has no way to attack me, unless she gets close, but she's stuck behind that little wall of hers and can't move. As soon as that wall goes down, I'll throw everything I've got at her and finish this off._

Seconds passed quickly as Kanna began to lose control of her wall. In her time, she could only think of one strategy that could work, and if it failed she'd be done. She'd need a little luck for this to work, but if everything went according to plan, she'd be able to win the fight.

Kanna charged forward through the wall as if it were rain. Withought her chakra to hold the wall together, it was nothing more than a few drops of water. Temari didn't waste a moment, and swung her fans at Kanna. Temari expected Kanna to fly back, or drop to the ground, but was surprised when Kanna didn't slow down.

Temari quickly tried to get in a second attack, but Kanna was too quick, and sliced through her shoulder blade with a kunai. It wasn't enough to detach her arm, or even cause an injury that would cripple the other girl for the rest of her life, but it was enough to distract her enough to kick Temari in the stomach and stomp on her other wrist holing the small fans. Temari looked up at the girl with wide eyes.

"I figured it out. The winds from your attacks were used with a much smaller force and much less chakra. The winds would disperse into a gentle breeze if only something would make contact before the blast hit me. I saw from the tree and my shield that your attacks left no scar on anything and were significantly weaker than I thought. Then it occurred to me where you focused your attack. You focused on my stomach, knees, and arms, places on my body that would be left without any kind of blocker. In other words, all I needed to do was create my own blocker."

Temari looked to the ground near where Kanna charged and saw a fairly large scroll. "So, you threw the scroll to block the attack." Kanna nodded. She then turned her head back to where she knew Lucien was and frowned.

"He needs me. Something … bad is over there. Something evil. I can feel it."

Temari was confused. She didn't feel anything, and if she did, it would come from her brother and not anywhere. Was it part of the plan or was it something else? Whatever it was, from the concern on her face, Temari could tell that whatever caused the distraction was something very bad.

Kanna left to go help Lucien, but the scars of her battle with Temari took their tool. She was at a loss of breath, had very low chakra, chest on fire, limbs ached, and her water scrolls were gone. She didn't care though. All that mattered to her was helping out her boyfriend, because she knew that he was in deep trouble. Her connection with him started to get weaker and weaker, which meant that his life force was weakening quickly. Whatever caused it, she had to get over there fast or else, she, Lucien, and Haku would all die.

…..

And there it is. All this time and I still leave you all with a cliffhanger. Don't worry though, I promise you that I will update this story again before a year passes.

I've said it before and I'll say it now. I will finish this story. Even though I update as often as the Cubs win the World Series, I'll finish this story. Period.

Nothing much about this chapter. Just a couple of fights but they needed to happen. I'll have a little more story action next chapter. Mainly it's going to have Kushina, doing … stuff. I won't tell, but it's a key plot element. A bit of her past and so forth.

Thank you for reading

Next Chapter: The price of vengence

Please review 


	26. Notice of Adoption

Hey everyone.

I know it's been a long time since my last update. I can't remember how long it's been but I'm pretty sure it's been years since my updates. The reason for my lack of updates is a simple one. Every single one of the chapters of stories I have written has a common theme. I am proud of everything I've published for you guys, even the less action packed or filler ones. Just as every chapter I have published has a common theme, every chapter written since then also has a common theme. I hate them.

This story is a little different than my other story that I have written. I've tried to create parts of the chapters. Unfortunately, I do not like the direction any of them are going at all. I could release my latest attempt, but that would not be fair to any of you. I'm sure that all of you guys who have read up to this point have done so because you like my writing and you like my work. Ending the story without a proper end isn't fair to you guys. You've all been way too awesome to just up and leave empty handed like that. But this story isn't quite dead yet!

I have decided to put this story up for adoption. Here's how it will work. If you want a shot to finish this story, or know someone who would like to take a shot at finishing this thing, PM me with a sample of the next chapter, or at least let me know that a sample is on the way.

I really want to end this story right. I can't stress that enough. However I refuse to end this story with an ending like Scrubs season 9. You don't deserve an ending like that.

To look back on these fanfics I wrote, it's really only thanks to you guys that I even got this far. For a guy who at the time had just graduated High School, creating a work of this length is something I really couldn't imagine and it was you the readers who helped me to go on. Every single one of you guys has been impactful.

So I guess this is it. I'll let you guys know in the next update just who it is who will finish this work, and I hope that you give him/her the same amount of support that you gave me. You guys are awesome.

Midnight Zero


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